


Lovely Head

by Honeydew_Milk



Series: Lovely Head [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Murder, Mystery, Other, Rape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2013-12-28
Packaged: 2018-01-03 05:38:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1066406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honeydew_Milk/pseuds/Honeydew_Milk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a chilly afternoon in Wall Sina and life moves on as normal, everyone happy and out. However, Armin notices Jean isn't around as much and decides to search for him after he doesn't show up to school for a full week. When he reaches Jean's house, he finds him dead on his carpet.</p>
<p>Forensics come back from the lab and shows that Jean was raped and murdered. But by who? The City officials hire Detective Levi and his partner Petra to find out more and put the people who did this to justice. But in this chapter, it looks like Armin is the prime suspect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Armin - The Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> This is my official first chapter story. I made 3 stories before this so it's not my first but this one will have continuations on it. Don't be too harsh it's still only the 4th fic I ever made but this one I promise will be your favorite. Or if not then I'm sorry but I tried lol. I finished the whole story already but I'm not posting it all at once, I'll post one chapter weekly, I mean unless you want me to post it more than I guess 1 chapter daily will be good.
> 
> Each Chapter will be told from the character's perspective. The final chapter will be an omniscient view
> 
> Enjoy reading!

It's cold, chilly, in fact. My sleek overcoat isn't covering my face or hair. My tears may have dried on my face, but my heart weeps for eternity. I just lost the love of my life and no amount of crying will bring him back. I had better just be glad that it wasn't me who was judged harshly, but I can't stop thinking about him. Him. He was my life. Why did he have to go this way? I needed answers, so I went out in search of them.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
It's a warm Monday morning, but it's only 7am. What am I doing up this early? It smells like freshly picked spring flowers outside my window. Did I leave it open all night? Whatever, I don't have time to worry about that, let me just close the window before I leave.

I get up and brush my teeth. As I walk out my room, I almost trip over my cat. He's sleeping in the hallway outside my room.

"Hey Minnie, what are you doing out here? What a minute, you must be hungry, aren't ya girl?'

I walk downstairs and search for some cat food. There's no more in the cabinet. So instead I go to my fridge and take out some fish Jean made me yesterday. I wanted to eat it later but I could survive without it

"Here you go honey, I know you'll love this"

"Meow." Her response was adorable

As I put it down, she nearly runs me over to get to it. Cats really do love fish. It's one of those phenomena I never understood, only knew about. It's fine. I still need to brush my teeth. When I walk upstairs to the bathroom, I have two options of toothpaste, either mint flavored or cinnamon. I chose mint because I wanted my breath to smell good. What if Jean kissed me today? I didn't want my breath smelling fishy. I brushed my teeth vigorously, bottom row first, top row next, and finally my tongue and gums. Everything looks crystal clear.

My hair still looks a mess, though. I usually wet my hair first to style it, but I didn't feel like that today. Let me just blow-dry it and brush it until my usual beach blonde bowl cut looks normal. It took 20 minutes for me to finish my hair but it's a bit shorter than usual. Maybe because I didn't have to dry sopping wet hair.

I shuffle back to my room to look for my school uniform in my dresser. I spent all night washing clothes after Jean left, so I'm sure I have something in here. And I was right. My uniform is a white dress shirt, khaki pants, black socks, black shoes, a corduroy jacket, and a tie color of your choice. I always choose a yellow tie as it matches my hair. I get dressed in 20 minutes and check my cell phone.  
Weird. I always get a good morning text from Jean, so why haven't I received it yet. Whatever. It's nothing. I need to be at school before 8:15 or I'm late, so I get on my bike and ride to school. Halfway there I realize I didn't lock my doors but that isn't necessary. My house is hardly the best on the block, so who would want to steal anything from it?

It's 8:10. I made it to school with 5 minutes to spare. Yes! I arrive at the double doors of the school. They're much bigger than I imagined, at least 12 feet high. That's huge. I step in and see a flurry of images. People talking, backpacks, pencils, pens, teachers on their way to class. This was my high school, Sina High. I come up to the entrance to the classroom and see Eren and Mikasa awaiting me. We all walk in and sit next to each other

"Hey Armin, you look nice today." Mikasa looks good today, too.  
"Thanks, Mikasa, you look good too. And how is my little Eren today?" As I say this, Eren blushes a bit

"Don't call me that, I'm taller than you! Anyways, did you finish your homework yesterday?" -- As I'm about to respond to Eren, I realize something. Jean is absent.

"Eren, Mikasa, have either of you seen Jean? It's not like him to miss school. He knows we have a huge test today." I'm concerned. Where is he?

"No, we haven't seen him... do you think something happened to him?"

 

Mikasa looks anxious about something. Does she know where he is or is she just worried like me? I don't have time to worry about that now and I ask around.

"Reiner, Bert, Ymir, have any of you seen Jean? It's not like him to skip school on exam day?"

"I wish I could help you, kid, but I'm kinda busy" Reiner doesn't even look at me as he says this, as he's too busy cramming. Dammit, does anybody care?

"Sorry sweetie, I haven't seen him. The last I heard, he was at your house because he text Connie about it." Ymir seems to be telling me the truth. But Connie.... why would be be texting him? I didn't know they were friends.

"Armin, you may want to go back to your seat. Professor Hannes just entered the room"

Bert's right. I have to stop worrying about him and pay attention to myself right now. Let me focus on this exam.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Oh my, that exam was tough, wasn't it, Armin?" -- Eren bumps shoulders as he says this, wanting me to respond. I don't, initially.

"Oh? Oh, it wasn't that bad, I mean I studied all night" -- after I say this, Eren looks displeased. He probably wanted me to agree with him.

"God, Armin, can you stop acting so pretentious all the time and just  
agree with me for once?" I don't hear him as I'm still trapped in my thoughts. This is totally unlike Jean. Why would he keep me worried like this?

"Armin...... Earth to Armin" -- Mikasa waves at me to try and get my attention.

"Uh, I'm sorry Mikasa, I'm just." -- Mikasa covers my mouth with her hand.

"I know, I'm worried too. I wonder what's up. Have you tried calling him?"

"No, I'll do it when I get home" Truthfully, I did want to call him now. But I didn't want to do it in front of Eren and Mikasa. I didn't need them getting as worried as I was on the inside. It's tearing my heart out and ripping it to shreds. I can't have them suffer as well.

I rode my bike home alone. I check my surroundings every few minutes. For some reason, I feel uneasy. Only the sounds of cars are in my vicinity but I still feel queasy and rush home. Finally, I get home, I throw my bike down in front of the steps and rush in the house. Only 3 seconds after I got in the house, I reach into my pocket to pull out my cell phone and dial Jean's number.

*ring ring*

*ring ring*

No answer. I try again.

*ring ring*

*ring ring*

Still nothing. I try this 34 more times and no answer. What the hell? Now I'm panicking. My heart starts racing and feels like it's about to burst out of my chest. I start to sweat profusely and I really want to call the police but what if that's not necessary? What if he's fine and is just on vacation or something? No, that can't be, he would've told me. He always does. But it hasn't been 24 hours yet so even if I do file a missing person's report, I'll have to wait.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
It's next morning. A bright and sunny Tuesday morning. The first thing I do is wake up and check my phone for any missed calls or texts from Jean. Nothing from him, but I got a message from Bert. How did he get my number?

**message**

Hey, it's Bertholt. Did you get in touch with Jean yet? I heard from Reiner that Mikasa probably saw him last.

**end of message**

What.... what the hell. Mikasa? What does this even mean? Why does everyone seem to know where he is but me? I put it out of my mind for the moment, then tried calling Jean again. Still nothing. It's been 20 hours since he was gone. As soon as school is done, I'm going to call the police. My mind won't rest until I know what's happened to him.  
At school, everything moves on as usual. Still no sign of Jean, but I have to stop thinking about him in class. His presence is taking over my every thought and it's distracting me from my studies.

"Hey kid, you okay?" The voice belongs to Reiner. He must be worried about me. "It'll be good, don't worry bro. I tell you what, I'll walk you to the police station later today. You're going to file a missing person's report, right?"

"Yeah, I was planning to."

"Good, then we can go together." As Reiner says those words, my heart cooled down a bit. Finally. Someone who cares. It really made me feel better. I don't feel completely fine yet, not when we still don't know what happened to Jean, but I feel better.

God, why can't school end already? I'm pissed that it's taking forever. School never seemed to be this long before.

After what seems like an eternity, the bell rings and the school day is finally over. I grab my backpack, exit the classroom and run into Mikasa in the hallway. She falls in line next to me as I walk down the hallway, my backpack slung over one shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Armin. Trust me" -- Mikasa plants a gentle hand on my shoulder as we walk. "Believe in me."  
This reminds me... I have something to ask her.

"Hey, Mikasa, I have to ask you something..... Reiner said he saw you and Jean together a few days ago. What did he mean by that?" -- As I say this, her hand retracts quickly from my shoulder and she starts to look nervous. Does she know more than she's letting on?

"Oh, did he really? No, I haven't seen him. Maybe he mistook me for someone else." -- Her hands are sweating. She may or may not have anything to with Jean's disappearance, but she's definitely hiding something.

"That's fine. I'm going downtown with Reiner after school today to put in an official missing person's report" After I say that, her eyes start to blink rapidly and she starts fidgeting.

"Wow, would you look at the time? I gotta go, but tell me all about it later." -- Mikasa runs off down the hallway. That was weird.... But before I can think about it anymore, Reiner walks up from behind me.

"Ready to go? I got a car, so we can drive there together" Reiner looks happy to see me. That's a relief.

I got in his car and he turns the radio on. "Break The Ice" by Britney Spears is playing. I love this song.

"You like Britney? I see you snapping your fingers over there" He notices me bopping along.

"Yeah, she's great...." That's all I could say. it's awkward to talk to him in this situation.

We pull up to the Wall Sina police station. I get out of the car, quickly walk through the front doors and come to the front desk.

"Excuse me, where can I file a missing person's report?" -- I frantically shout these words and the desk receptionist notices me.

"Okay, slow down honey. Come on, follow me." I notice how beautiful she is. What was her name?

Reiner waits in the lobby as I move through the back with the receptionist. She brings me to some short guy who looks like he wears a permanently angry expression on his face. What's up with him? As the receptionist begins talking with him, he looks directly at me, seemingly staring right through my soul. The blood in my veins chills instantly and I get a little shaky in the knees.

"Alright, thanks Hanji. I'll talk to him now", the mysterious man says. Hanji. The receptionist's name was Hanji. I made a note of that in my memory.

"Hello, my name is Detective Levi and I am in charge of the Center for Missing Persons. You mind telling me your situation?" Detective Levi was so courteous.... it was a little off-putting with his previous demeanor.  
I sit down with him and tell him of everything I know about Jean's disappearance. It only took about 10 minutes but I feel like I did a good job of reporting it.

"Thank you, Mr. Arlert. I'll keep you informed along the way and will be sure to tell you when any new information pops up. Be careful" -- as he finishes, he shakes my hand and escorts me back to Reiner in the front.

"Ready to go?" Reiner looked like he was taking a nap. I hadn't been back there that long but he must have been up all night.

"Yes, I'm ready. Can you take me home now?" We both leave together and he drops me off at my house.

"Stay alert, Arlert." He chuckles at his own stupid joke. What a douche.

"Will do, and thank you for your help, Reiner. I appreciate it" As I finish saying that, I kiss him on the nose. I really did appreciate this.  
\--------------------------  
It's Monday of the next week. I have no new information from either Detective Levi nor any calls or texts from Jean. At this point I'm not worried anymore. Levi seems like a good man. I have faith that he'll help find him. I just have to wait and hope.  
I went to school that morning and see everyone's smiling faces. Why was everyone so happy?

"Any good news?" Eren looks a bit intrigued.

"No, nothing yet. A detective is looking in the case."

" A Detective... why a detective?" -- Mikasa starts to look nervous again.

"Well, I can't do this on my own, so I enlisted some help. I'm sure everything will be fine. This guy is a professional."

All class long, I stare at Mikasa. She looked like someone had just told her the worst news of her life. When she noticed I was staring at her, she turned to Eren and started to joke around like nothing was wrong. Something is definitely not right with her.

After school ends, I get too anxious to wait around any longer and decide to go to Jean's house myself. Maybe I'll find clues there to give to Detective Levi. Maybe Jean is sick and that's why he's been missing school. Whatever the case, I need to know.

I reach his house. It's big, beautiful, and intimidating to look at. His two front doors are made of glass. His house is a mansion. I knew he was rich but every time I come to his house, I'm still amazed. I walk up to the front door and knock twice. No answer. I try again. I try to open it, only to discover that it's locked. I don't have my spare key with me. I left it at my house. No matter. I walk to the back to see if the other door is open. After going around the house, I see broken glass on the ground..... Why is there glass? What happened here? I run to the nearest door and there's blood all on the handle. Holy shit. My heart begins to pound hard inside my chest.

On the verge of panic, I slowly open the bloodied door knob and the sight I see makes me immediately throw up. The scene before me is horrifying. My heart dropped to my knees, my world starts to blur and spin around. The scent of decaying flesh fills my nostrils and I am overwhelmed by it all. The gruesome scene is just too much for me to handle.... I put my hand on my face in disgust and I try to swallow my vomit but it's not working. It begins to seep through my fingers. I immediately call the police....

Someone murdered my Jean!


	2. The Discovery pt II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Armin discovers the body he calls the police. Detectives Levi and Petra are on the case but after a while they suspect Armin is the one responsible for the killing. Is he? What really happened to Jean?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 (of 5 or 6) of Armin's story. His is the only one that'll have two chapters, it's pretty long

There he is. His body looks like a doll. It's sprawled on the floor. Even dead, Jean still looks like an angel, the red blood cascading off of his beautiful brown hair. His eyes are open and sparkling like diamonds, his arms are crossed over his chest.... he can't even die ugly. Even the knife sticking out of his ass is... wait, what? A knife? Why is there a knife sticking out of his ass? What on Earth happened?

I couldn't even scream. My lungs felt empty and I couldn't stand anymore and I just collapsed on the floor. I reached into my back pocket for my wallet. Detective Levi gave me his card so I could contact him if I uncovered anything suspicious. I dial very quickly and mess up the number a few times, but I finally got it together and called him.

**Levi presses ANSWER**

Levi: Detective Levi of Wall Sina Police Department speaking, how may I be of assistance?

Armin: Detective, it's Armin. Jean... it's Jean!

Levi: Mr. Arlert? You found Jean? What happened? Where are you?

Armin: I found him, Levi, but... my Jean is dead! There's blood everywhere, a lot of it. And there's a knife impaled in him. There's blood all over my hands, clothes, in the room....

Levi: I'm going to need to know where you are so I can get a squad over there quickly. Tell me, where is the knife located?

Armin: The knife.... It... it's lodged in his buttocks. Oh God, I think I'm gonna be sick...

Levi: Okay Armin, listen to me. I'm on my way. I need to grab my partner. Stuff like this is her specialty. Tell me where you are.

Armin: At Jean's house. I... I....

Levi: We have his address in our files. We're on the way

**Levi ENDS call**

What am I going to do? I have to call Mikasa and Eren. They're always here, so I need to let them know what's happened...

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The police have been here for about an hour now, searching through the house for clues on Jean's murder.

"Hey Armin, you okay there, buddy?" -- it's Mikasa. She's trying to comfort me. "It'll be all right. I'm so sorry you had to see this. No one should have had to witness this gruesome scene. Do you wanna stay with me and Eren tonight?"

She's so good at calming me down. She always was. And staying with her and Eren sounded swell.

"That would be nice.... I need company tonight.", I absentmindedly reply. I'm just still so distraught... How could this have happened? While I'm deep in thought, I overhear the medical examiner talking to Levi.

"Detective, it looks like the cause of death was Exsanguination. Blood slowly leaked from his rectum until he bled to death." -- I know that voice. The medical examiner has to be Historia. I knew she wasn't in school anymore but I didn't know that she had found a job already. Her parents must have helped her tremendously for her to be able to get such a prestigious job so early in her life.

"Do we know what happened exactly?" -- It must be Detective Levi's partner. He hasn't told me her name yet but she looks like she has a badge on her.

"Not until I lay him on my table and examine him further. But what I can tell you is that the body's already been through Rigor mortis, so he's been gone for a few days. Again, I'll let you know on the specifics after I examine him later, Detective Petra."

It's Petra. Levi's partner. Detective Petra. She actually catches me staring at her and walks over to me, probably to introduce herself.

"Hello. You're Armin Arlert, right? I'm Detective Petra Ral, Levi's partner on this case and specialist in sex-related crimes." She reaches out to shake my hand and I reluctantly comply. "If you want to come down to the precinct, we can have a formal interview on a timeline of events." Petra unnerves me. She's far too formal, considering the situation.

"Am I under arrest? What's going on?" I'm confused. I wasn't involved in any of this.

"As of right now, no, you're not in any trouble. We just need to find out more about the victim and you were close to Mr Kirstein. At least, that's what Levi told me," I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about her makes me uneasy.

"Yes, he was my boyfriend. I'll get my things now." Really, bitch? I'm still grieving and you want to take me downtown to answer questions as if I was actually involved in his murder?

"Your friends can come with you, if you'd like. Me and Detective Levi be waiting for you outside when you're ready." Petra turns around and walks over to Levi and they begin conversing in hushed voices about something. As they talk, Detective Levi repeatedly glances in my direction. What is she telling him?

"Ready to go, you two?" -- Eren walks over and interrupts my thoughts. He's ready to leave.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Me, Eren and Mikasa arrive at the precinct and Detectives Levi and Petra take me to an interrogation room and then leave. I sit down in one of the two chairs in the room and begin to examine my surroundings. Oh God, it's scary. It's not very big, or bright. It has one barred window on the side, and a metal table in the middle of the room along with the two metal chairs. It's also air conditioned, so cold that I could see my breath coming out in front of me. There's also this one huge mirror on one side of the room. Why am I even here?

Detective Petra walks in through the door. Her... Why couldn't I get Levi?

"Sorry about the uncomfortable accomodations. Here's a pillow to sit on." She reaches out with her right hand and gives me a soft, white pillow and I place it under my butt so it won't get cold. With her left, she hands me a warm cup of coffee.

"I know this very hard for you to talk about...", She begins. "...but I just need to rule you out as a suspect."

"Can I talk to Detective Levi? Where's he?" Where was Levi? She's a little intimidating.

She just pauses and looks me square in the eye for a few seconds. "You see that mirror over there?" She points towards the mirror on the wall and I turn my head to the left to see it. "Levi's on the other side. You can't see him but he can see and hear us. Don't worry, we're not accusing you of anything or arresting you... at least, not yet."

This again? Why does she insist on believing that I had something to do with Jean's murder? I'll just answer her questions and try to get this over with as quickly as possible.

"We haven't got any information on the time of death yet, but let's start with what we have. You said Jean disappeared a week from today, right?" She looks cold and just a bit menacing.

"Yes. I noticed he wasn't showing up to school and got worried. That's why I called you." I did pretty well for myself, I thought.

"You did. However, what we are looking at here is a sex crime. You were Jean's boyfriend. Did you and he ever have sexual relations with each other?" I pause before answering, a little taken aback by such a personal question.

"Yes, he was my boyfriend. We had sex all the time..." My face is starting to cramp a bit from frowning and furrowing my brows.

"I see, I see." She nods her head a few times. "How did you come across his body?" She smiles crookedly as I take a while to muster up an answer. "If you would rather I ask you something else..."

"No no, I was just thinking. Uh.... I walk up to Jean's house and try to enter through the front door. It's locked, so I go to the back and see broken glass and a bloody door knob. I open the back door, find his body, and call you." I take a sip of my coffee and smile sarcastically at her.

"Why didn't you call the police immediately after you saw the broken glass instead of proceding? Why did you open the door when there was blood on the handle? And will we find your DNA on the handle of that knife blade?" -- Now she's done it. I need to slowly think about this.

"I didn't call the police because I didn't want to believe it. I mean, my boyfriend's dead. Isn't that enough for me? I opened because I wanted to see what was behind the door and of course there will be some of my DNA on the blade. I practically lived there with him." This isn't looking good.

Detective Levi steps in the room. Both my eyes and Detective Petra turn towards the door. "Petra, why are you accusing Armin of murdering Jean? He was the one who alerted us to Jean's disappearance in the first place. Let's take it easy." Levi just saved my ass. I've got to remember to thank him later.

She throws her hands up into the air. "I'm just following protocol." She turns back to me. "Now, I have a few more questions to ask." Petra tries to question me again.

"You know, I'm not feeling up to it right now. It's my understanding that if I'm not under arrest, I can leave whenever I want, and I want to leave. Now" -- I get up from the metal chair and rapidly begin walking towards the door.

"You're free to go, but don't you want to find out who really raped and killed your boyfriend? Or is he not important enough to you?" She tries to rattle me but I won't fall for it.

I stop halfway to the door and turn around to face her. "As soon as you begin treating me like a victim rather than a suspect, I'll be happy to talk to you. But until then, I'm leaving." -- She starts to say something else but I was having none of it. I leave without even bothering to listen to what she had to say.

I walk out of the precinct and go straight to Eren and Mikasa. They're sitting in the car talking to each other, but their conversation is inaudible to me from where I'm standing. I walk up to the car, open the back door, get in and angrily slam it closed.

"Is everything all right, Armin?: Mikasa looks at me and immediately knows I'm not okay.

"No, that Detective Petra Ral is questioning me like I had something to do with Jean's murder. I stormed out of there, so I probably look even more suspicious to her now, but I don't care." I told her everything.

"It's okay Armin. Come stay with us. We'll help you feel better."

We drive to Eren's house where Mikasa had put some dinner out on the stove before she came to see me at Jean's house. It smells like stir fry.

"I have some stir fry heating up in a pot. Want some?" Mikasa looks at me and raises a brow. I would love some stir fry but I just can't eat anything right now, not after what happened earlier today.

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I wouldn't be able to stomach it." She understood and nodded. All I wanted to do was sleep.

"Armin, the guest room is clean, so you can sleep whenever you want." Eren had cleaned up the guest room for me. It looked spotless. I'm thankful to have such good friends.

I plop down on the bed, lay back and close my eyes. I don't want to think about anything right now. I fall asleep instantly.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 weeks pass. I had stayed with Eren and Mikasa ever since Jean's death. I woke up kind of early today to get ready for school. As I'm brushing my teeth I receive a phone call. It's from Detective Petra. Oh no. What is it this time?

**Armin ACCEPTS call**

Ral: Armin, it's Petra. I have some news I think you should hear.

Armin: ...I'm listening.

Ral: We have some information on Jean. Jean died two days before you filed your missing persons report. He was raped, then had a knife repeatedly pushed up his rectum canal and pulled out. The blood splatter on the ceiling confirmed it. It was a frenzied attack and the perp left Jean bleeding to death and gasping for air. There was blood in his lungs

Armin: Did you call me just to tell me this, Detective?

Ral: There were two samples of blood on the knife. One was Jean's and the other was unidentified. In a frenzied attack, it's common for the knife wielder to accidentally cut him or herself.

Armin: You don't think I had anything to do with that, do you?

Ral: We aren't sure. That's why we need you to come down to the precinct and take a DNA test. Now.

Armin: And if I refuse?

Ral: Then you will be put under arrest and will have blood drawn from you forcibly to comply. Your choice. You have 2 hours to come down to the precinct.

**Ral ENDS call**

Oh no. I'm... I'm suspected?! I know I'm innocent, but do they? My life... my life is falling apart.

"Mikasa, Eren, I can't go to school today. I have to talk with the detectives again about Jean's case." I shout that from the bathroom and I hear a dish break downstairs.

"Are you serious? What for?" Eren is inquisitive.

"They want to make sure I wasn't involved with his murder. I'll get there myself." -- and before I can here either one's reply, I head out the door and go straight to the precinct.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I arrive at the precinct, I see Detective Levi and Petra together in the lobby, probably waiting on me.

"Ah, glad you could make it. Didn't want to have to hunt you down.", Petra says with a humorless smile. She's just trying to get in my head. "Now, follow me to the back so we can get your DNA tested."

I follow her to the back. She asks me to open my mouth so she can swab some saliva. She seals the cotton swab in a baggie and gives it to Historia, the medical examiner. Apparently, she has a machine that can test the results in mere hours. I am forced to stay until the results come in.

The results come. I am a perfect match to the DNA on the knife that didn't belong to Jean.

"Well, it looks like we've got a hit. Your blood is on the knife." Petra fixes me with a piercing gaze and crosses her arms. "Care to explain that?" Even Levi has to sit down and watch me try to talk my way out of this.

"It's not what it looks like, I swear. I'm over his house all the time. One day I must have been cooking and accidentally cut myself or something." It was the best I could come up with at the moment.

"Not only do you have no visible knife wounds on your fingers or hands, but you don't have a time frame for this. Your DNA is on the murder weapon and a witness put you at the crime scene within the parameters of the rape and murder." -- Wait a second... what witness is she talking about?

"What witness is this?! I swear I wasn't there!" I wasn't. I couldn't have been.

"A neighbor saw you break in and leave Jean's house late Sunday morning two weeks ago when Jean was murdered. She even took pictures." -- Petra slaps down the pictures on the table.

That was me. It was definitely me. But how... WAIT, I remember!

"Wait, I remember now! I left my shoes there the night before and I needed to get them. Please, you have got to believe me." I plead with the two detectives, on the verge of tears. I'm totally screwed.

"First you said you weren't there. Now you're saying that you WERE there because you forgot your shoes. Plus, your DNA is on the murder weapon. You were Jean's boyfriend and had sexual relations with him. We even have DNA on the broken glass that matches yours." Petra had a smug look about her, like she had just wrapped up this case. But this was far from over.

I'm in a state of near shock. "That can't be... I must have touched the broken glass when I discovered Jean." Levi can't even look me in the face anymore.

Petra just lets out a small snort and shakes her head, amused. "You have excuses for everything, don't you? Armin Arlert, you are under arrest for the rape and murder of Jean Kirstein. Anything you say can and will be used against you..." -- Petra stands up and cuffs me. My life... it's over. The real murderer is out there, but this is where my story ends, it seems.

"Find yourself a good lawyer, because you'll need it." Those were the first and last words Levi said to me as he left the room.


	3. Mikasa - Perfect Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting a month before Jean's death, Mikasa (and Eren) had some "foul" play with Jean and after this is uncovered by Detectives Levi and Petra, they are both called in for questioning. However will the interview include anything incriminating? What will happen to Armin as he sits in jail for a murder he didn't commit?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, the chapters are written from the character's perspective. This chapter is Mikasa's chapter so it's written from her perspective.
> 
> Sorry it took longer than expected, my editor finally got to it. I finished writing this 3 days ago! It took 3 days to edit, write, re-write, and send back.
> 
> The toughest chapter I've wrote so far, thank you all for your patience and kind words. I hope you enjoy

** _Two weeks before Jean's murder_ **

There he is, there's what I've been waiting for. It was Jean. He was naked and stretched on his bed. I couldn't get my bra off fast enough, I kept fumbling over my clasps.

"Eren, get behind me and unhook my bra for me, I can't reach it" -- Eren seductively licks the back of my neck as he slowly undoes my bra and lets my puppies breathe. Finally. I let them loose, I wanted take my panties off right there but Jean stops me.

"Mikasa, let me do that part, you just come over here where I can catch a better view of you" -- that was all that he needed to say. I walk over to the bed where he's laying down and I climb on top of him. He pushes me up to his face, I'm literally sitting on his face now. How am I supposed to do anything like this? 

Then it hits me, so moist and so erotic. He lightly bites the bottom of my underwear and ends up nipping my lips a bit. It stung but it felt like pleasure to me. Eren then walks up from behind, naked, and joins me on top of Jean. Oh god, my two favorite men in the world. How could this get any better? Jean finishes undoing my underwear so our lips are meeting. He probes my insides and I'm sent into heaven. Eren grabs my girls from behind and starts slowly massaging them in a circular motion until I start whimpering. I could last for a long time but if things keep going as they are... 

Eren stops. "Mikasa, move back a little, we both need to be comfortable for what happens next" -- What happens next? So soon? It's been about 10 minutes in and he's ready for that? Well, I did want it, and wanted it now so why would a girl complain? 

I move back as instructed until my cooch is hovering over Jean's dick. I slowly lower my hips until he's inside of me. My inner workings have been longing for someone to lodge it tight for a long time. Jean was 9 inches long, this felt even more amazing than it probably looked. But it didn't stop there. As he gets all the way in, Eren starts to insert me from my second hole down there.

Two for the price of one. I've hit the jackpot.

They kept pounding my walls for what seemed to last for hours. I didn't know where I was being touched, it felt like everywhere. My ass kept rocking off of Eren's abs, I'm trading sloppy kisses with Jean right below me, and I'm about to keel over from the pure ecstasy. I wanna keep going to my body aches, just a bit longer and stronger. Just when I want to finish though... 

"Jean slow down, I can feel Mikasa tightening. She's almost there" -- it was Eren, that party pooper. Can I just finish?

"If either of you pull out, I'll make sure that neither one of you gets to have this anymore" -- who was I kidding? Eren was my boyfriend, of course he could have it. They both looked at me like it was an empty threat. It was. Whatever happened next just happened. They looked at each other quickly, and both pulled out at the same time. It was so quick I rolled over and fell off the bed. I banged my head **hard** on the floor

"What the fuck guys, I wasn't done" -- I try to hide the pain but it did make me wince a bit.

"Sorry Mikasa, but you wouldn't have been able to last much longer. Touch yourself over there, it'll feel much better if you work for it." -- Eren winks his eye. What is happening right now? Then...it hits me.

I look at the sight before me and I couldn't help but fit as many fingers in my vagina while massaging my clit at the same time. This is what he meant by his words earlier?

Eren straddles Jean as I did but this time it's his turn to get down and wild. Jean sits up and lays Eren down on his back and Eren opens wide. Jean rocks his thighs back and forth and the sound of skin slapping each other cascades the room quickly. Eren looks to be in between a mix of pain and pleasure, and Jean is sweating so hard his eyes aren't even open to see it. Oh shit, this was too hot.

I'm quickly playing with myself at the sight. 20 minutes of pure lust overwhelms me. I'm done, I'm at my limit. I start squirting all over Jean's carpet. Oh god I'm so embarrassed, my juices are everywhere, how are we gonna get this out of the carpet?

"Jean, fuck I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it." -- I sound sarcastically unapologetic. 

"Ugh...fwah. Let me finish" -- he wasn't done with my precious Eren yet. I'll let him turn him out until his heart is content. I mean, I love watching this.

After a few more minutes, the moment of truth came. Eren was the first to go, not surprising. He was never the endurance runner. The DNA between them was a sticky and sweet experience they shared. Jean however, planted his seed deep inside my lover, letting him know who owned the night tonight. Eren better wash before it dries.

Oh my god, I totally forgot about Armin. Jean goes out with Armin...how are we going to explain this to him? Let me not say anything. It's for the best that he doesn't know, this would crush his heart.

"Jean, you mind keeping this a secret? You know...from _him_ " -- I gave me a wink and a kiss on the cheek. He got the message.

I put on a coat and my panties and walk out the house. I'll start up the car while I wait for Eren to come. As I'm in the car waiting, I check my diary. Today was the day I was supposed to get my period. Did I miss it? What?! Ugh, let me worry about this in the morning, it's too late for this now...

Eren comes rolling along a few minutes later and he drives us home. It was a good day.

** _A day after Jean's disappearance_ **

It's 7am, school is in a bit over an hour. I should get up and get dressed but I can't, my mind is preoccupied. Everything seems to be a blur. The past few weeks have been nothing but trouble. Eren has been pissing me off lately and I can't seem to focus on anything. Nevertheless I get up from bed, trying not to rustle the sheets much as I don't want to disturb Eren. He doesn't take nearly as long as I do to get prepared. I walk over to my phone to see if I have any text messages, I have two, from the same, unidentified number. What does this say?

** _text message_ **

unknown: I know what you did recently, and you won't get away with it.

unknown: believe me, you'll pay

** _end messages_ **

What the fuck. Who is this? Oh my...what if it's Armin? What if Jean told him? I'm scared, my hearts starts to pound hard. If Armin ever found out, that'll be the end of our friendship for sure. I run over to Eren.

"Eren, wake up and read this!" -- Eren is non responsive. Probably still groggy

"Eren get up, you need to get ready for school anyway." -- I slap him in the groin. He jolts immediately.

"Mika...what are you doing...ugh" -- I didn't mean to do it that hard but I wanted him to read it.

"Read this, now" -- I hand him the phone and wait for his response. "Well?" -- he's not saying anything.

"Okay, what do you need me to do? It looks like you got a stalker you need to handle" -- Is that it? Is that the response I was waiting for? Whatever, time for school soon.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

In school everything seems normal, except Armin comes in a bit worried about something. Shit. Let me just act natural

"Eren, Mikasa, have either of you seen Jean? It's not like him to miss school. He knows we have a huge test today." -- Armin's eyes are wide. Dammit, what do I say?

"No, we haven't seen him... do you think something happened to him?" -- I played it cool. He immediately asks Reiner, Bert, and Ymir. Looks like he doesn't really know.

Wait, if Armin wasn't the one who texted me, then who did? Dammit, I hate not knowing things. Whatever, I have an exam to take care of. But I can't keep my head in the game with this worrying, maybe if I stare at the trees and the bright blue sky things will fade.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Armin, Eren, and I start walking out of school as we just completed the biggest exam of our school life so far. It wasn't that difficult but it wasn't easy. Eren and Armin are talking about things, maybe if I ignore them he wouldn't talk to me. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

"Mikasa, ready to go?" -- I stop cold in my tracks. Darn, it's only Eren. I keep getting cold feet for no reason.

"Are you okay girl? Look, he doesn't know anything and he doesn't have to as long as you don't spill the beans with your actions" -- Yeah Eren's right. If I act cool, nothing will be out of the ordinary. But where is Jean? It's not like him to just not show up. You know what, I'll call him when we get home.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

We arrived home a little earlier than usual, it's only 4pm. Eren must have been rushing because we don't usually come until 4:45pm. Whatever, let me try calling Jean...

***ring ring***

***ring ring***

No answer. That's strange. Not even a text from him for a while, what's going on? Did something happen to Jean that we don't know about?

"Eren, you seen Jean around?" -- Eren is in the living room doing some pilates. I catch him with his hips in the air and feet on the ground and twirling around in a slow motion. It looked kinda hot.

He gets up and walks over to me, grabbing my hips and pulling me closer to him. I lay my head on his chest, wanting to feel the vibrations on his chest when he speaks.

"Nah, but why are you worried about him, you have me" -- Who was he fooling. He looked to enjoy Jean more than I did to be honest. However I didn't respond, knowing exactly what he wants. He knows how to set me off, like a working timer.

He rips off my shirt and shoves his hands down the front of my pants and starts fingering me through my panties. Oh god he's so fast and good, I trained him well. He knows exactly where to hit each and every time. I don't even need to show him how I want him to do me 'till my body aches

"Uh, slow down a bit, this isn't the best position" -- His hands are all in me, if I laid down it would've been more comfortable.

He just starts fingering me off, clothes on and all. Was he not going to let me take it off? After a few minutes my juices start to flow, all over his hands. I'm embarrassed and I'll have to take another shower. But before I can scold him, he removes his soaking wet hands and starts licking me off his fingers.

"You're gross you pig. I need to take a shower and I _don't_ want you to come with me. However, I won't be mad if you show up" -- After I say this Eren's face looks puzzled. He probably doesn't know if I'm inviting him or not. What a dunce, he should know I'm begging him to finish what he started.

A few minutes of showing I hear someone open the bathroom door. It must be Eren.

"Eren I've been waiting forever, get your ass in here," -- but I didn't hear a response. What was he doing? I hear rustling in the bathroom cabinet under the sink.

"Eren is that you, this isn't funny I'm getting scared, answer me" -- but as soon as I finish, I hear running and the mysterious person leaves. Not knowing what had just happened, I scream bloody murder and Eren finally shows up.

"Mikasa what's wrong, are you hurt?!" -- He sounds scared like I am dying.

"Yes, what the fuck where you just doing right now?" -- He looks at me dead in the eye confused, the person from before, it wasn't him.

"Wait...I think. I think a burglar was just in here. I heard noises and thought it was you but if you weren't in here before then...who was it? Check the cabinet, I heard it open!" -- I point towards the cabinet and Eren opens it up.

"Nothing in here, not like I expected anything" -- Weird. I keep my diary in there when it's not in the car.

"My diary, it's not in there? Don't tell me." -- FUCK. How could this get any worse. EVERYTHING is in there, including what I did with Jean. This is bad.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A while had passed since my diary went missing. I got a replacement one quick but it wasn't the same, my most personal thoughts were in the other one. Sitting in school now without it...it was horrible.

Armin walks in a few minutes before class starts and comes up to me and Eren. What does he want this time? But...he doesn't say a word all class long, he's just staring at the squirrels having tree sex out the window. It's unlike him, he always has something to say. Even the past few weeks he's been at least asking about Jean. Oh god Jean, he's still gone. What really happened? Whatever I can't think about it now, school is starting.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After school I see Armin and he stops Eren to chat a bit. About what I don't know, then he switches his eyes towards me and walks up to me.

"Hey, Mikasa, I have to ask you something..... Reiner said he saw you and Jean together a few days ago. What did he mean by that?" -- Umm what? What the hell does Reiner know that I don't? Was he the one that broke into my house? I'll get him later, but for now let me play it cool.

"Oh, did he really? No, I haven't seen him. Maybe he mistook me for someone else." -- Oh hell no. My hands are sweating, things aren't easy to hide for long. I can't do it, I need Eren to save me now.

"That's fine. I'm going downtown with Reiner after school today to put in an official missing person's report" -- He's leaving. Thank god, stay away from me, I don't want to see your blonde hair around me for a while.

"Wow, would you look at the time? I gotta go, but tell me all about it later." -- I quickly made a run for it down the hallway to avoid any further suspicion. Oh well it looked bad for me back there but I bet he's still dumb enough not to think anything. I'm in the clear...for now.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Armin calls Eren with bad new...really bad news.

"Eren, you and Mikasa come to Jean's house now, he's dead" -- Armin is sobbing uncontrollably over the phone. Oh god, what has happened. My eyes start to water as I hear Armin's screams on the phone from across the room. Eren notices me and says to Armin he'll be there quickly and he comes to console me after hanging up.

"It'll be okay princess, you had nothing to do with it. Just make sure our friend is happy" -- Eren's right. I had nothing to do with his death, that was out of my control. My friend just lost his boyfriend, I need to let go of my own personal grief and console him.

We arrive at the bloody scene. There's police everywhere and in the air you can smell the scent of iron and decaying flesh. The warm air feels so much hotter with the mix. I step out of Eren's car and look around for Armin and I finally spot him on the floor. I run up to him and hug him tightly for 5 minutes straight, never letting go.

"I'm so sorry Armin, no one should have to see this gruesome scene" -- My heart pours out on his shoulder, my tears roll down his cotton sleeves, my fears are with him now. God, please save this boy, he doesn't deserve this.

He talks to the detectives more and I have a good idea. I want Armin to stay with us, me and Eren. Armin says nothing but nods in approval 

"That's great Armin, I'll keep you company in the long nights and Eren here will make sure you feel right at home with us. I know it's hard. Make sure to give Minnie to Ymir, she said she's willing to help" -- Armin doesn't say a word, but I know he's happy on the inside. I see him smiling a bit. It's the least I could do, I ruined his relationship and potentially had something to do with Jean's disappearance. I didn't want to accept that but maybe whoever caught me wanted to teach me a lesson through him

A few weeks at our house did wonders for Armin. He almost got back to his normal self. He looked bubbly again, the Armin I always knew was nealyr back. However one morning he receives a call, he says its from Detective Petra Ral. It must be important because he said he's skipping school to go to an interview again.

"I'll get there myself" and he bolts out the door without waiting for me or Eren to respond. I hope he's alright. Be alright, come back alright.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been 2 days since Armin went down to the precinct. Nothing. No word on what happened. I get worried and I call his phone but it goes straight to voice message. Wait. Detective Levi gave me his business card a while ago.

"Eren, where's Levi's business card, I need to talk to him asap" -- Eren pulls out his velcro wallet from his back pocket. Velco? Grow up. Anyways I have his card and I call Levi.

**Levi ACCEPTS call**

Levi: Detective Levi speaking, how may I help you?

Mikasa: Detective Levi, this is Mikasa Ackerman, friend of Armin Arlert. I just wanted to call you and see what's up with him. I haven't heard from him for a few days.

Levi: You haven't heard? He's been arrested and is going to be arraigned soon for the murder of Jean Kirstein.

Mikasa: **WHAT?** no offense detective, but this is some sort of mistake. He's been with us for a long time, and he's his boyfriend. You need to look harder.

Levi: I believe you Mikasa, he seems innocent. However all of the forensics are pointing to him. What can I do? My hands are tied

Mikasa: How about you look for the damn real murderer who is still out there?! It's not Armin.

Levi: Hold that thought Mikasa, Detective Ral has something to say to me.

a few minutes pass and I'm still on the phone...

Levi: We just got some news. Armin may be getting out soon, but we need your help to wrap something up. You and Eren come down to the precinct pronto. Don't be late

**Levi ENDS call**

Don't be late? What's happening? Whatever the case is, Armin may be getting out with my help. Let me head on down there now.

"Eren, get dressed, we're meeting Armin soon. I need you to drive us" -- I am panicking. Armin may finally come home. Oh god, being arrested for a crime you didn't commit. I could never.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the precinct me and Eren are being questioned in different interrogation rooms. Why are we being questioned? I ask nothing out loud, the quicker I answer these the faster Armin comes home right?

Inside the interrogation room I'm being questioned by Detective Ral. She looks like a bitch, but then again a lot of females do.

"So, earlier in the week we received a package at out front door step." -- Ral lightly lays a diary on the table. It's mine! The one that was stolen a while back.

"Oh my, you have my diary! It was stolen from my home a few weeks ago. Thank you for returning it," -- I reach out to grab it, but Petra stops me.

"That's not what I came here to tell you. Open up the bookmarked page and start reading" -- what's really going on?

I open up the page and I examine it. Oh no, this looks bad. This is why I shouldn't have wrote down EVERYTHING.

"What's the matter, you forgot how to read" -- Petra is being rude now. I knew she was a cunt on the inside. I start reading.

" _I knew I shouldn't have done it. I didn't want to, but he made me. He made me a killer, and I did as I was told, dated 12/2_ " -- December 2nd was a few days after Jean's murder.

"Looks like we got the smoking gun right?" -- She had a smug expression like she just got me for something I didn't do

"Listen to me. I know this seems bad, even incriminating, but you don't understand..." -- Petra interrupts me.

"No I do understand. You killed Jean, you have the words right there, a few days after he was killed. We have your DNA in his house that was still fresh, what we really want to know is why? Why'd you kill him? If you tell the full truth I promise to give you a light sentence" -- Was she serious?

"I didn't do anything! And what DNA did you find?" -- Petra again slaps down papers at me.

"We found fluids that matches your DNA and it puts you at the crime scene. We found hair in this diary and it was a perfect match, you're going to jail it seems." -- After she says this, she calls Detective Levi to release Armin.

Now I need to leave this dump.

"I need to leave" -- I try to get up but she pushes me back down on my seat. "Where do you think you're going? You're under arrest, you can't leave"

"If I can't leave, I want my lawyer then" -- those were the magic words. She leaves the room and dials up my lawyer.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He comes in no time, it's Erwin Smith. He was supposed to be the best attorney anyone could find

"Listen to me and you'll be out of here in no time. Don't talk unless I tell you to" -- Erwin looked serious.

"Okay Mikasa did you have any type of sexual relations with Jean? This is a sex crime after all, I need to know"

"You can answer that" -- Erwin gave it a seal of approval.

"Uhh" -- I stutter and look around aimlessly until I clear my throat "no I didn't. What does my personal life have to do with anything?"

"Oh really?" -- Petra opens up another page of my diary... " _He slowly cups my breasts between his two large hands and massages them gently. I wanted him to milk me like a cow..._ where these not your words?" -- Petra, this is harrassment now.

"Fine, we had sex. But I didn't..." -- Petra cuts me off.

"You're a liar. Now why'd you kill him?"

"Don't answer that" -- Erwin put a hand in front of me as to keep me from standing. He came to my rescue.

"It doesn't matter what she answers or not counselor, she's being charged with premeditated murder and rape" -- Petra, listen to me please!

"Stop, fine let me explain. What I was talking about in that part of my diary...I had an abortion" -- Erwin and Petra looked freaked. "It was Jean's baby. But he was with Armin at the time and I didn't want to have his baby and have it be a living reminder to Armin of all of the infidelity I did to him. I even have the doctor's exams to prove it" -- I couldn't handle it anymore. I had to let the truth be told.

"I'm not buying it, we also have your blood at the crime scene, explain that?" -- Wait, what did she say, my blood?

"I thought you had Armin's blood at the scene, now all of a sudden it's my client's blood? And what about the murder weapon, have you found her prints on it?" -- Erwin really was good.

"Both of their blood were at the scene and only Armin's was on the knife, however after further testing it was shown to have been planted there artificially. Someone had his blood and tainted the knife with the intent of setting him up. As for your client's blood, it was soaked all in the sheet. We had over a cup of DNA to test" -- Dammit, she's good.

"Wait, when was this blood found? Because I have a good explanation" -- I was ready to pounce.

"About 2 months before Jean's death. However the same blood was found inside of his rectum, so it's definitely a match to you" -- Petra sits down, maybe she doesn't have it all wrapped up like she thought.

"Yes, I know what happened. One time me and Jean were going to have a quick hook-up. I knew he was really into me and I wanted to please him.....sooo I decided to get in bed with him. We start making out, and then I noticed. They came early. He was grossed out and told me to leave instantly." -- Petra's face turned sour from the information.

"They came early, what do you mean?" -- Erwin must not know.

"She means she had her period" -- Petra quickly tells Erwin. "Well I will see if I can corroborate your story, and if everything checks out then you may leave" -- Petra tries to leave the room.

"Not so fast detective. It sounds like you don't have anything to charge my client with and if that's the case, we will be leaving now. Ms Ackerman, let's go" -- Erwin signals me to take his hand. I do and he escorts me out the room and in the front lobby. Eren is waiting there for me.

"Baby are you okay?" -- he comes up and kisses me hard. Oh god I was scared, thankfully I was safe.

"Yes I'm fine" -- but before I could say any more he stares at me for a while. "Eren what's up, what's going on?"

"Marco is under arrest for the murder of Jean' -- my heart drops once more. More of our friends, who really did it?

"Marco, but...Marco wasn't even around for a long time. He was studying abroad in Australia, why are they accusing him?"

"Apparently Marco came back a week before Jean's murder and talk of the town is that he was a thing with Jean before he left but Jean never officially cut him off, he just used the 'Australia' excuse to start a fling with Armin. Detective Levi is treating it as a 'scorned lover' kind of move, this time they do have a motive" -- Eren is telling me all of this and I'm scared.

Was Marco in any way involved?


	4. Marco - Up In Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco is arrested for the murder of Jean Kirstein but after revealing some information, have the detectives finally found the real murderer? And is it Marco like they suspect?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys this chapter took so long. I am usually on time with this but I had to edit it so many times because I wasn't pleased with the way it came out initially. My editor finally made some good changes so here it is!
> 
> Again, it's from the character's perspective. This chapter it's Marco's perspective

Wow, Sina hasn't changed much since I left.

- **The week before Jean's murder** -

It's been a long month in Australia but I'm finally happy to be returning to Sina. I need to make sure I remember to pick up my plane ticket before I leave the hotel. However, before I go I'd like to "borrow" some souvenirs like the decorated soaps and cute face cloths. I bet Jean would be happy if I got some for him. That reminds me, he hasn't responded to any of the texts I sent him. That's weird. I'm sure he misses me but maybe he doesn't have his phone with him. No matter, I'll call him before I board the plane.

- **x** -

It's almost time. My ticket number is about to be called, I can feel it.

"Everyone with boarding passes in the E-20s please come take your seat" -- the plane's pilot says over a megaphone. My number is E-24 so I head towards the line that's forming in front of the plane entrance and wait in line.

I hop on the plane and proceed to 1st class. I heard that if a plane crashes, the civilians in 1st class are more likely to die than the ones in the back. Not that it matters as most people don't survive a plane crash anyways. After I get situated in my seat I signal to the flight attendant.

"Excuse me, ma'am." -- I tug on her dress so she would turn around to face me, "I'm thirsty, do you have anything you would recommend?"

"Hello, my name is Mina. What are you looking for? Water? Juice?" Mina. Such a lovely name.

"I'm looking for something a bit stronger, if you know what I mean." I give her a little wink and she simply smiles politely in response. My attempt at being smooth probably came across as awkward to her, but she got the idea.

"Oh yes. My personal favorite is the White Russian. Would you like a sample glass?" The sample glass was only 2 ounces. I needed something larger.

"A full glass would be nice, thank you." She retired to the galley to fix up the drink and returns with a glass filled with a white liquid, a bag a peanuts, and a magazine.

"Here you go." -- she hands me the drink and magazine but drops the bag of peanuts on the floor. As she bends down to grab the peanuts, she slowly rises up and brushes my pants with her hands. She was flirting with me but I pretended not to notice. She stands up, smiles at me and slowly strolls away to serve the other passengers.

The nearly 8 hour flight passes without incident and I land in Sina, Japan. The first thing I do when i get off the plane is call Jean, since I forgot to do it before I boarded and I'm sure he'll happy to hear from me.

**ring ring**

**ring ring**

Why doesn't Jean ever answer his phone? He' worrying me. This isn't like him at all. I'm scared so I call Bertholdt for some comfort.

**Bert ANSWERS call**

Fubar: It's Bert.

Marco: Hey Bert, it's Marco.

Fubar: Oh hey Marco! How are you?! When are you coming back? I miss you, buddy!

Marco: Actually, I'm already back home. I called you to talk about something. We can catch up later.

Fubar: Sure, no problem. What's on your mind?

Marco: It's about Jean. He hasn't answered any of my calls ever since I left. Have you heard anything from him?

\---

Marco: Bert, answer me. Where's Jean?!

Fubar: Actually... This is something we need to say face to face. You free anytime later tonight?

Marco: Yeah, I have the whole night clear. Where do you wanna meet?

Fubar: Stop by at my place around 8pm. That sound good to you?

Marco: Sounds perfect, see you then

**Marco ENDS call**

What was that all about? What's happened with my Jean and why does everyone seem to know but me? I shouldn't be worrying about this but if something happened to Jean, I would never forgive myself. No matter, I can't think about that now, it's only 5pm. I have 3 hours to go home and unpack, let me get going.

- **x** -

It's almost 8, so I should head over to Bert's place now. Let me speed it up, I don't want to waste any time.

I arrive at Bert's front door. It's a bit chilly out tonight. Maybe because it's nighttime but it's freezing. Where the hell is Bert? All of a sudden, I hear a creak and Bert comes out. He looks as if he's preoccupied with something.

"Oh, you made it. Here, you want some?" -- Bert tries to hand me a margarita. I refuse it, but he insists so I take it and gulp it down. My heads starts swimming mere seconds after swallowing the drink. 

"A real lightweight, huh?" He chuckles but I don't let it phase me. I wasn't here for this.

"I'm not here for small talk, so just tell me about Jean."

"Chill out, we'll get to him. But first, let's talk about you right now." As he says this, he slowly approaches me and whispers in my right ear. "You do me a favor and I'll tell you anything you want. Deal?"

I say nothing in response. This was a bit embarrassing but I really want to know about Jean so I let him do as he pleased. I reluctantly nod my head in agreement. He smiles and then brings his fingers to my lips and inserts his thumb to separate them. He then pushes his tongue in and starts swirling it with mine. This sensation is... surprisingly pleasant. He turns me on faster than Jean ever could.

"Bert, stop."-- I push his body away from mine. "This feels good and all, but it's wrong, very wrong. I'm still in a relationship with Jean.".

"Oh yeah, about that... No you're not, honey. You two are through." He says it so nonchalantly. I'm confused. What does he mean by _we're through?_

"What the hell are you talking about?!" My anger is starting to get the best of me.

"After you left, he replaced you with someone younger and cuter. Armin." -- as he finishes saying this he starts to unzip my pants and goes down on me. My body is throbbing with so much pleasure , I can't even focus on being angry.

"A... a little bit longer, Bertholdt." -- Bert's face lights up with those words. He starts slurping on my hardened cock. It feels so great. I didn't know he knew how to deep throat.

"I wanna finish, come on, just a few more seconds." I plead Bert to finish, but before I could finish, he abruptly stops.

"What's wrong? You're not done yet!" -- All my anger comes rushing back. I was almost done.

"This is where we're stopping. I have a question to ask you. You also hate Armin, right?" He looks at me with a bit of guilt in his eyes as he says this. What does he want?

"I want to ring his neck, to be honest. He's a no-good Homewrecker. Why, you have something in mind for him?" I start to pay attention closely. This is starting to get interesting.

"Yes, I do. I don't want to give you all the details right now but all I need is a bit of his blood and things..." -- I stop him there

"Whoa, what do you mean you need a bit of his blood? Why would you need something like that?" I immediately start to regret wanting to be a part of this.

"It's just for a prank, calm down." He chuckles and lightly punches me in the shoulder. "I just need it or any other piece of DNA you can get from Armin. You think you can retrieve it for me?" His puppy dog eyes are impossible to resist, so how could I refuse?

I pause before replying and fold my arms. "How exactly am I supposed to do that?", I ask. Bert reaches inside his pocket, hands me a small vial and says, "All I need is a small sample of his DNA and everything will go according to plan. Trust me."

"Okay, fine, I'll do it. But no one is gonna get hurt, right?" I'm scared. Even though Bert says it's just for a prank, I'm still not so sure... 

"No one will be harmed, I promise. Armin stole Jean from you. It's time someone put Armin in his place." He's right, of course. My relationship of 3 years just ended because of him. I want him **gone**.

- **x** -

The next day is a school day, so I know for a fact Armin is gonna be there. Once school is over, I'll visit his house and see if I can find any piece of DNA that Bert can use for our prank later. I go to his house and notice that the front door is unlocked. Does he always leave his door unlocked? Doesn't matter, it makes my job easier. I come in and see his cat Minnie lying on the carpet.

"Hey girl, you're looking good today! Yes, you are!" I pet Minnie and she responds by purring and wrapping herself around my leg. A few minutes of playing with Minnie and I almost forget the reason I'm here. I search every nook and cranny of Armin's house but he's such a clean freak, there's nothing useable. No cotton swabs, no balled-up tissue, no recently used utensils or dishes. Nothing.

Desperate for something, I decide to search Armin's room again. This time, however, I find something. On Armin's pillow. There's some fresh blood on it. It almost looks like he had a nosebleed or something in his sleep. Yes, this is exactly what I need! The blood spots were still wet, so I took a Q-tip out of my pocket and swabbed some from the pillow and put it in the vial Bert gave me last night. Making sure the vial's top was secured tightly, I put it in my pocket and exit the house, trying to make it look like i had never been there. Now I just have to wait in the school's parking lot after school for Bert. Armin is gonna wish he never crossed paths with me.

- **x** -

I impatiently pace back and forth in the parking lot after school and then I turn around and see Bert. He's excited to see me.

"You have the stuff?", he whispers. I pull out the vile and he gets giddy.

"This is perfect!" He reaches out and takes the vial from me. "Thanks. Your work is done, so I'll just take over from now. Don't say anything to anyone though. Maybe later, we can finish off what we started last night..." -- He winked at me. I just blush a bit and drop my eyes to the ground.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just wait for you to do... whatever it is you're going to do." -- I leave the parking lot and return home, exhausted.

- **x** -

It's been a few weeks since Bert last contacted me. I wonder how his prank went. Now that I think about it, it's a bit weird he needed blood. The mere thought of handling someone else's blood severely grossed me out. Actually, it's about 7am, so I should get up and get ready for school since I officially have to come back today. But before I could get up and brush my teeth I hear some knocking on my door. It's so early. Who the hell could it be?

I slide on my slippers and walk briskly to the door.

"Who is it?" -- I'm wondering who the hell would bother me this time of morning.

"It's the police, open up the door. We have a warrant for your arrest." I look out the peephole. There's two detectives flashing badges. It's really them. I slowly open the door...

***BAM***

A woman pushes the door wide open, hitting me in the nose in the process. I clutch my nose in pain as it starts to bleed profusely.

"Marco Bott, you're under arrest for the rape and murder of Jean Kirstein." -- The officer snatches my bloody hands from my nearly broken nose and starts to cuff them. Jean? Jean's dead? And they think that I raped and murdered him?

"I didn't do anything." My pleas come out nasally because of my injured nose. "I just got back to Japan a few weeks ago! Let me go! I swear it's not me! What's going on?! And who's dead?!

"Officer, can you read him his rights? I'm going to search the premises. I have a warrant with me" -- The first officer then leaves to search the apartment while the second officer reads me my rights. I was then brought to the squad car and taken to the Wall Sina police department.

On the way to the police department, I bombard the officers with questions. "Officer, please, I swear I didn't do anything. I can tell you exactly where I was if you give me the time frame--"

"Pipe down, you'll be informed once we get down to the precinct.", says the male officer in the passenger's seat. "But for now, we're searching every square inch of your apartment for evidence. Relax, this is only just the beginning."

- **x** -

Down at the precinct, I'm greeted by two detectives working on this case. I'm still in handcuffs as I'm escorted out of the car and into the building. As I pass through the front lobby, I see Mikasa, Eren, and Armin. Armin? Why is he here?I thought Bert took care of that mess of a person.

"Marco, say it ain't so. You didn't have anything to do with Jean's death, right?" -- Mikasa blurts this out as I'm dragged further into the building. I silently shake my head at her.

Everything begins to get a little blurry. The blood leaves my head and I end up passing out. When I wake up, I'm told by a Detective Levi that I'm in an interrogation room because I'm somehow involved with Jean's death.

"So, why'd you do it? Why did you take Jean out?" Levi looks serious. For such a short man, he's very menacing.

"What do you mean, _why did I do it_? I loved Jean, I would never do anything to hurt him!" I yell at the detective, on the verge of tears.

Levi opens a folder and shows me some pictures. It's Jean...and it's his crime scene. There's a 4.5 inch knife in his anus, a bloodied face, broken nose, and rope burns all over his wrist

The scene is abhorrent. I throw up on the floor.

"Don't play stupid now, kid. You weren't at the scene, but you were days prior to the murder on the outskirts of Wall Maria buying various items. And all of the items you were seem buying just happen to be the very some ones used in Jean's rape and murder. Coincidence? No. This means one thing: you were an accomplice." -- As he says this all to me, I start to remember some things.

After getting some of Armin's blood, I was instructed by Bert to go to the supply store on the outskirts of Wall Maria to buy a steak knife, some rope, and bleach. I asked him why, but he didn't tell me and said if I told anyone, he'd kill me.

"Now we know you didn't commit the actual rape and murder, since none of your DNA was found at the scene. But as far as the law says, you're just as guilty for facilitating the crime. Now, if you tell us everything you know, maybe District Attorney Annie Leonhardt will cut you a deal. That part is up to you." He gives me a stern look. I was told by Bert that I'd regret telling anyone about this, so I can't do it.

"I... I can't say anything. My life is on the line. At least in jail I'll be alive." Levi is infuriated.

"Are you **aware** of how much trouble you're in right now? If convicted, which is sure to happen with all the evidence we have, you can face a minimum of 25 years, maximum of life. Think again. Your life will end in jail."

I... I really can't.

"I'm so sorry, Detective Levi, but I'm refusing to talk without my lawyer present. I don't want to think about this anymore." -- I start to cry a bit. My life is going to end all because of a stupid mistake I made.

"Let me remind you that Jean Kirstein is dead. DEAD. You loved him, right? Then why don't you want to bring his murderer to justice? Why would you go down as his murderer when you know you had nothing to do with it?" -- Levi is right. I'm innocent in all of this. Why am I protecting Bert? Finally, after about 10 minutes of complete silence between me and Detective Levi, I cave in.

"It was Bert. Bertholdt Fubar. He told me that he was gonna kill me if I said anything. Please don't let him know I told you!" Levi looks at me for a few seconds, then turns around and signals someone else to come in. It's Annie Leonhardt, the DA. She sits down in a chair next to the detective and looks me square in the eyes.

"Hello, Mr. Bott. I'm sorry to have to make your acquaintance at a time like this. I know it's a very stressful time for you but this has to be done. My name is Annie Leonhardt and I'm the District Attorney for this jurisdiction. We have a murder case on our plate and I've been briefed enough to know that you were not the killer of Jean Kirstein. If you talk to me, I'll see what I can do to reduce your sentence and possibly avoid jail time all together. However ,you must tell me everything you know. **Everything**. Leave out one detail, and it's on your heard." She was quick, curt and to the point.

"Now, Bert makes sense as the real killer. The description a few witnesses gave us agrees with him. However, we have no evidence linking him to the crime yet... which is where you come in. You tell us everything we need to know and in exchange you'll have immunity for everything you say to us and I'll grant you parole for a year. And as for the threats, I'll grant you witness protection so you won't have to live your life in fear. Sound good?"

She made a very reasonable offer. If I didn't listen to her, I'd be in jail for at least 25 years for a crime I didn't commit.

I swallow hard and just stare at her for a few moments. "I accept." Where do I even begin? I need to get this off my chest immediately.

"Let's begin with the blood. We've found Armin's blood on the knife, but we know he wasn't there. How did it get there?"

I say nothing at first. I don't want to die and i don't hold any particular love for Armin, anyways.

"Let me remind you that if you don't tell me, you're probably going to jail for the rest of your life. Now please, answer the question."

I choke back a few words and I look to Levi. He gives a slight nod of his head and I start to talk.

"Bert told me that he needed Armin's DNA. I asked why but he refused to tell me, only saying I need to cooperate." -- Annie stops me.

"Cooperate? For what?"

"I... I was in on Bert's plan. He said he was going to get Armin to 'pay'. But he promised me that it was only a prank! Just a stupid prank... Armin ruined my relationship with Jean so I was pissed enough to just do whatever he said. I know it was stupid but... I'm sorry." Again, I start to cry a bit.

"Sorrow and tears won't bring Jean back, Marco. And it won't help us solve this crime, either. Now, where did you get the blood? And why did you buy the supplies?" She's asking so many questions. I begin to feel a little overwhelmed by them all.

"I broke into Armin's house and found blood on his pillow. I took that." -- Annie just sighs explosively. She know she can't charge me, so that's probably why. "And as for the supplies, I went to the store on Bert's request for a few things. I bought the things he wanted. Here's my cell phone with a call log to prove it." I hand over my phone just so I can look cooperative.

After taking a few minutes to peruse the phone, I get a text message. It's from Bert.

"Marco, you got a text from Bert." -- Annie proceeds to read it aloud.

_Meet me at my house in a few hours. I need to talk to you. If you bring the police, you're dead._

"Oh, this is lovely." Annie smirks a bit.

"Oh no. Bert knows I've been talking to you. I gotta leave. NOW. If Bert finds out where I am, I'm dead." I try to get up but Annie stops me.

"You're still not done yet. I'll charge you with murder as well as breaking and entering if you leave. I need to hear a few things from you," I wasn't listening to her, though.

"Are you serious? He's going to **kill** me! I can't do this anymore, I'm so sorry. I don't want to die."

"Listen to me, you aren't dying. Remember, we have the military police on our side. You'll be safe. Now just sit back down and listen to me." I reluctantly do as she says.

"Give me the receipt you have for the supplies. We need it for evidence. And as for this message... you're going to Bert's house." -- My heart drops down to my feet.

"What do you mean? You're sending me straight into hell! I can't go!" I protest. I can't go. I can't.

"You'll be safe. We will have the police surround the house to protect you. I want you to wear a wire and have him confess his crimes on tape. This will put the nail in the coffin."

I just stare at her incredulously. "Did you read that message?! if he sees police, he's going to kill me! Are you crazy?!"

"I read it, and trust me, you won't know real fear until you're in jail. Now are you in or out?" After hearing this, I reluctantly agree. I'll do it for Jean. He would want me to do this.

"Good." She nodded her head, satisfied. "Now let me have the receipt and then you can be on your way." I reach into my wallet and hand her the receipt. She takes it from me, kisses me on my left cheek, then stands up and walks out the room.

"Lovely woman, isn't she?" Levi finally speaks.

- **x** -

It's time. I arrive at Bert's house and I knock on the front door. I noticed that the door is made of mahogany wood. I'm all wired up. I just gotta make sure he doesn't notice.

After a few more knocks he slowly opens the door and lets me in. I walk inside and there's a cup of tea on a round table in front of us. The living room is lit by candlelight and the sound of music on the radio sounds familiar. It's definitely 'Secret' by Madonna.

I walk in the living room and sit down on a chair. He joins me.

"Here, have a drink." He picks up his own cup of tea from the table and slowly sips it. I do the same.

A few moments of silence and he brings up the subject first.

"So, I noticed that you were arrested by the police earlier today. You mind telling me what's up?" -- he smirks a bit and drinks his tea. He patiently awaits my reply.

"Oh, it was nothing - just a misunderstanding." I keep my eyes focused on the teacup in my hands as i say this. I'm a terrible liar and I pray that he doesn't notice it.

He lightly places his teacup back on the table and squints at me.

"Don't you lie to me, bitch. tell me everything before I fucking end your life, right here, right now." -- He points to a knife on the table. How did I not notice the knife there before? Oh hell, I should just start talking.

"Fine, I got arrested, they said I was going down for Jean's murder but then they quickly ruled me out. That's why I'm here now." I quickly blurt it all out. When I'm finished, Bert looks pleased.

"But Bert, what happened with Jean? Why is he dead?" I plead with him, desperately. He raises his eyebrows and starts talking.

"I killed and raped him." What? I didn't want to believe it, but he did it. He really did.

"You killed him?! Why?!" I stand up from the couch, shocked. I can't believe what I'm hearing.

Bert just gives me a slightly puzzled look and then speaks. "Well, I didn't mean to at first. I only wanted to get back at Armin but the thing is, I wanted to be with you, and Jean was in the way of that." He continues, "He also has a huge mansion and a $200,000 life insurance policy on him. On the policy, you were named the first beneficiary. Have you checked your account? You're rich." He smirks and continues drinking.

"I haven't but I don't even want the money. I don't need it, I'm giving it away to charity."

Bert drops the teacup on the floor.

"NO! Don't you do it,I'm telling you." -- I pay attention to the cup on the floor that's spilled.

"Why? Why'd you have to rape and kill Jean? What did he do to you for him to deserve that kind of punishment?" I didn't even care about the fact that Bert was sitting right in front of a very large serrated blade anymore. I was furious. I needed answers and I needed them now.

"Because he tried to fight back. I told him if he tried anything stupid, I'll gut him but he tried to hit me. Luckily I dodged all of his blows and tied him down. I made sure to defile him and let him know I was in charge. He asked to live, so I didn't kill him instantly. He bled slowly to death" -- He grinned at me. This bastard.

"Bert, why? What did you need the blood for? It was supposed to be used against Armin."

"Oh, I used that blood to smear on the knife, setting him up for the fall. He's out of your life now. Happy? If you say anything to anybody, I will personally hunt you down and kill you."

I can hear my heart pounding in my ears. He's serious. I know it.

"I swear, I won't say anything. Just let me go!" -- I get up and go around the table, but Bert jumps up, goes around the other side, and blocks my way.

"Leaving so soon? We haven't even finished talking yet." He takes out a gun from behind him and points it at my head.

Oh shit."I said I wouldn't tell. I PROMISE you that I won't tell anyone!" I raise my hands up and begin to cry. I don't want my life to end here, not like this. Why did I listen to Annie?

"Oh, I know you won't. I'll make sure of that." Bert smiles and places his finger over the trigger.

I close my eyes, awaiting my painful death.

**Bang**

Two gunshots echo throughout the living room. I await the rush of pain but feel nothing. I run my hands all over my body. I'm unharmed Then what was that?

Bert is on the floor, grasping his right arm, eyes open wide in shock and pain, gasping for air like a fish out of water. Detective Petra stands in the doorway, pistol still pointed at him, her eyebrows furrowed together. She... she just saved my life.

"Hey, kid you okay?" She keeps her pistol trained on Bert, but her eyes move towards me.

I nod my head. "Yes, I'm fine. Di-did I do good?"

She walks over to me and places her right hand on my should to give it a gentle squeeze, but keeps her weapon hand trained on Bert. "You did fine." She smiles warmly at me. "Thanks to you, he'll being arrested and put on trial. I'll need you, Armin, Mikasa, and Eren to testify, however. That way we will make sure Bertholdt has no way of squirming his way of out this." I just nod my head, still a little dumbstruck.


	5. Burn Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to prosecute Bertholdt Fubar for his deeds. Annie Leonhardt has a confession on tape and witnesses putting Bertholdt at the crime scene during the time. However a few things go wrong during the trial and everything goes downhill. Can Annie clean up the mess and get a conviction or will Bertholdt walk scot-free?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the previous one took a while to put up and this one. This is the most extensive chapter yet (and as such took a long time to write/edit) so make sure to pay special attention to every required detail.
> 
> This chapter is Annie's chapter so it will be from her perspective.

Annie Leonhardt, District Attorney, is the first to walk into the courtroom. The room is huge, with at least 10 pews on each side of the room and a judge's table in the front. This is where Bertholdt Fubar will be tried for the rape and murder of Jean Kirstein. Annie carries with her a few papers under her left arm and a suitcase in her right hand. She is dressed in a yellow dress shirt, black mini skirt, and black jacket to go around the shirt. Her 5 inch heels click loudly as she walks down the aisle. She rests before the judge.

Following her is Bert and his attorney, Gunther Schultz, ready to face the barrage of media attention as soon as they leave the courtroom. This case has become so high profile now that an official trial is being set.

"Docket # 11254, People vs Bertholdt Fubar, 1 count of rape, 1 count of murder in the 1st degree, 1 count of attempted murder." It's the bailiff speaking.

The judge for the arraignment and trial is Judge Dot Pixis. He clears his throat and begins to speak.

"I see. And how does your client plea, Mr. Schultz?" Pixis doesn't even look at the accused. His eyes are scanning the docket.

"Not guilty", he says without even hesitating. Annie grimaced. She knew what the plea would be, yet still found it shocking that he could lie to himself like that.

"People on bail?" The judge is moving right along, not wasting any time.

It's Annie's turn to speak.

"Your honor, given the heinous nature of the crime and the fact that the defendant has access to a half a million dollars in cash, we request remand for the defendant."

"Not so fast. The money she is referring to isn't even in my client's possession, it's actually in another man's bank account, yet he isn't the one being put on trial today. My client goes to school, has significant ties to the community, and this is his first offense. Being released on his recognizance is the only fair decision." Schultz made a good argument.

"I'll be the one handling that decision, Mr. Schultz. Bail is set at $500,000 cash or bond. Court is adjourned." After his ruling, Judge Pixis stands up to leave the courtroom. Annie walks up to Gunther and gives a long stare at Bert.

"Well Schultz, looks like your hands are tied. This case will land your client in jail for a very long time where **he** will be very popular I bet. He's pretty."

"That's borderline harassment, Ms Leonhardt, I could file charges. I won't, just let me say that you have no case against us." -- Schultz starts packing up.

"No case? What do you mean? We have your client's confession, evidence, and several witnesses."

"Well, it has come to my understanding that the evidence you have is pointing to another fellow that isn't my client. And remember, this is going to be in front of a jury. All we have to do is convince one of them that Bert isn't the killer and he's off the hook. We're finished here. Come on, Mr. Fubar, let's go post your bail right now." -- Schultz stands up to leave.

"Wait a minute, how can you post bail if you don't have the money?" Annie is visibly frustrated. But Schultz doesn't respond. He just smirks at her and keeps walking down the aisle and exits the room. Annie exits soon after.

- **x** -

It's a few days before the trial. Eren and Mikasa just came home from school and started to settle down and do some homework. The cool spring wind comes in and chills Mikasa so she gets up to close the window, but before she does that she notices District Attorney Annie getting out of her car. It's not the day of the trial yet, so why is she here?

Annie knocks on the door and Eren goes to open it.

"Guys, I'm sorry to be coming at such a time, but we need to go over a few things before the trial. May I come in?"

"Sure, come on in", says Eren. Annie walks in and sees Mikasa. She's pregnant.

"Mikasa, how long have you been pregnant?" -- Annie was sure she looked normal not long ago.

"Oh, about seven and a half months now. I hide it well. You want 1 sugar cube or 2 for your tea?" Mikasa gently rubs her belly and walks to the kitchen.

"Two, please." Annie walks to the living room with Eren and sits down on the sofa next to him. "Now Eren, I need you and Mikasa to go over your testimony. The defense will rip you to shreds if you have any doubts on this. Are we clear?" Mikasa returns with tea for three.

"Crystal. You just want me to talk about the text message we received before Jean's murder right? It was sent from a blocked number." The message Mikasa received on her phone a while ago was most likely from Bert. She could sense it.

"And Mikasa, you need to talk about your relationship with Jean before the defense brings it up. The sooner you do it and explain yourself, the less motive they will have." Mikasa looks stunned.

"I... I can't. Armin is going to be there, I can't say anything in front of him. And besides, I didn't do it, why would I need to say anything about our relationship?" Mikasa starts to cry but Eren grabs her hand and comforts her.

"Because if you don't then the defense will try and make up a motive for you killing Jean. You aren't on trial so no matter how much evidence against you there is, you can't be convicted. However, the more the defense blames things on others, the more likely they will cast reasonable doubt over the jury. We cannot let this man walk free after what he did." -- Annie looks Mikasa straight in the eye. "I know this is hard, but if you don't testify, you, Marco, Eren, and Armin will never be safe and Bertholdt will have gotten away with a vicious act. Please, I need you to do this for me".

Mikasa pauses for a moment and stares into her teacup. She then looks up and locks gazes with Annie again. "Okay, I'll do it."

I start questioning Mikasa and Eren with the heavy stuff first. The defense will have no mercy, so neither should I. Just before I could speak, however, there were a few rapid knocks on the front door. Who could that be?

"I'll get it, you two wait here" -- Eren stands up and walks towards the door down the corridor. As Eren opens the door, I see a person standing there. I can't tell whether it's male or female. The person has a black bag over the head and is conversing with Eren in a hushed tone. Does Eren know this person? After a few more seconds the mysterious person reaches in his or her back pocket and pulls out what appears to be a pistol.

" **Eren, get down now!** " -- I scream at the top of my lungs. As I leaped to the floor, I made sure to throw Mikasa under me to shield her. I knew exactly what was coming next but I still wasn't prepared.

**bang**

One shot, one kill. Eren was murdered execution style, shot through the forehead at point blank range. Blood and brain matter splattered on the wall as Eren's lifeless body fell backward. Mikasa screamed. The mysterious person didn't say a word and left immediately after firing. I was so shell shocked I couldn't do anything but continue to crouch over Mikasa on the floor. Mikasa shrugs off my body and runs towards Eren. I finally manage to get my senses together and call Levi.

"Eren! **MY EREN** why have they done this to you?" -- She is sobbing uncontrollably. It's not every day your lover is killed in such a heinous way.

**Levi ANSWERS call**

Annie: Levi! Please, come quick! Someone murdered Eren! I don't know who or why but you need to come now!

Levi: Where are you? I'll be over as soon as I can.

Annie: At Eren and Mikasa's house. Please hurry, there's blood everywhere!"

**Annie ENDS call**

- **x** -

Levi arrives at the house a few minutes later and begins looking around for some possible clues.

"Annie, what time did you say he was killed?

"About 4 minutes before I called you. It was some person with a mask or a bag or something covering their head, so I couldn't see who did it. I have no idea who was behind this." My voice keeps cracking and I can't even think straight.

"I think I may know who's behind this" -- Levi looks like he's onto something. "Who would want Eren dead a few days before trial?"

I try to calm my racing mind for a moment and focus on the facts. Who would want him dead? He was well liked by pretty much everyone from what I've been told. Unless...

"Levi, you aren't thinking of **him,** are you?" -- Impossible, he doesn't have access to any firearms.

"Yes, I am. Bertholdt Fubar. The fewer the witnesses, the better it is for him. He must have hired a hitman to take Eren out."

I knew Fubar was deranged, but I didn't think he would go this far to get what he wanted. I have put this man away. Before I could respond to Levi, a hand is gently placed on my shoulder. I turn around reflexively and notice it's Mikasa.

"Ms Leonhardt, if I testify in court, will the man who did this be put to justice? I don't want any one else close to me getting hurt over this. Can you promise me that if I testify, he would be gone forever?" -- Mikasa doesn't even shed a tear as she says this but I tear up a bit, choking back some muffled noises before I muster up a few words.

"I'll do everything in my power to euthanize that animal. Life in prison isn't enough for someone like him. You have my word." -- I lay my hand on her shoulder and she embraces me. I'll make it my life's goal to get Bertholdt.

- **x** -

It's the day of trial and the day Bertholdt Fubar's reign of terror comes to a screeching halt. No mistakes will be made. The first thing I must do is pick up Mikasa personally from her home. I don't want her to end up like Eren.

It took me 20 minutes to get ready, leave my house and pick Mikasa up.

"Are you ready for today, Ms. Ackerman?" She looks at me and puts a small smile on her face. Seeing her smile made me feel a lot better. After what this poor woman had to endure...

"No, not really. But I am as ready as I can ever be, so let's go." She fastens her seatbelt and we drive down to the courthouse.

- **x** -

I pull up to the front entrance of the courthouse. It's swarming with reporters and journalists but It looks like Schultz and Fubar already made it in. Good. I want to get this over with quickly.

"Ms Ackerman, let's proceed hastily. Whatever you do, do not respond to any questions no matter how tempting they may be. You understand?" I need her to follow my directions clearly and accurately.

Mikasa pauses for a second to look at all the reporters outside the car, then looks back to me and says "Understood." After those words we quickly fly out the car and make our way to the entrance. But before we can step two feet the reporters run towards us and begin to bombard us with questions.

"Ms. Leonhardt, is it true that you let Eren Jaegar die right in front of you?"  
"Ms. Ackerman, will you be able to testify now that your pregnancy has been made public?"  
"Is Bertholdt Fubar really responsible for these two tragic deaths or is there an accomplice working with him?"

The questions were nonstop. After wrestling through the crowd for a minute or two, we finally reach the front double doors. I make sure to lead Mikasa in first and I quickly follow her.

"Whew, we made it." I turn towards Mikasa and look her square in the eyes. "Mikasa, are you ready? All you have to do for now is sit behind me while I present the case and when you're called up to the stand, just go over what we've been practicing. You think you can handle that?" -- I grab both of her hands and hold them together. It's imperative that she isn't scared.

"Yes, I can handle it. Thank you so much for everything you've done so far." -- She embraces me. I hug her back gently.

"I'm not finished yet. We've got someone to put away and then find Eren's killer. Let's go."

- **x** -

Judge Dot Pixis takes his seat on his chair and stares out at the courtroom, full of witnesses, complainants, lawyers, and news reporters as well as friends of Jean Kirstein and Eren Jaeger.

"It's time to start. Prosecution, give your opening argument." He stares at me.

"Yes, your honor."

"November 30th started off as a normal day. A bright and warm sun filled the sky, cool wind blew through the trees, birds were chirping, the whole nine yards. However, a few minutes after getting out of bed, Jean Kirstein hears someone knocking on his door. He goes downstairs to answer it and he unknowingly lets a murderer into his home. A few minutes later, he's dead, with a steak knife protruding from his rectum. Who killed him, you may ask? Well, I am here to tell you, people of the jury, that Bertholdt Fubar killed Jean Kirstein in cold blood. And during this trial you'll find out all the gruesome details of how this murder was carried out."

I sit down after my opening statement. I thought I could've did better but I push it out of my mind and focus on the present. Now let's see what the defense comes up with.

"Thank you, Ms. Leonhardt. Mr. Gunther Schutlz, the defense's opening statement." Dot Pixis looks to be writing something down.

"Thank you, your honor", Gunther says as he stands and prepares to deliver his client's defense.

"There's something we won't argue. That someone took Jean Kirstein's young life. It's truly a shame and while such a heinous act certainly cannot go unpunished, the act was not committed by my client, Bertholdt Fubar. The prosecution has one job today and that is to prove beyond reasonable doubt that my client committed these crimes. However, they will not do that today and at the end of the day you, the jury, have the option of convicting this man. In the words of Sir William Blackstone, _It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer_. Don't let this innocent man spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime that he did not commit."

After that speech I felt like I wanted to throw up. My stomach hurts. I hope this isn't just a taste of what's to come later today...

"Ms. Leonhardt, are you listening to me? Please bring up your first witness" -- I didn't even hear Judge Pixis. Whoops.

I shake myself out of my daydreaming and stand. "Sorry, your honor. I would like to call Detective Levi to the stand." I look towards Levi and am surprised to see him so casually dressed. White shirt, dark blue tie, crisp dress pants, a black blazer, a dark blue belt, and black shoes. Impressive.

Levi gets up and walks over to sit down on the stand.

"Good morning, Detective Levi."

He nods at me. "Good morning, Ms. Leonhardt."

"Can you please explain your credentials to the court?" If he explains his credentials, then hopefully it'll make him look better to the jury.

"Yes, ma'am. My name is Levi, I've been a police officer for 12 years now and I've worked specifically for the Sina Military Police as the lead detective in homicide for the last 5 years. I've went to Wall Rose University and graduated with a degree in law at the top of my class. As a police officer, my file has been very skimpy as I've never been reported for misconduct or anything similar so that made me an obvious for lead detective." Levi doesn't even smile through all of this.

"Thank you. Now, onto more pressing matters. What happened on the day of December 7th?" This was the day Levi received the call from Armin.

Levi took a breath and continued. "I received a call from Armin Arlert saying that he found the body of Jean Kirstein. He seemed very distressed and was speaking very fast. I calmed him down and asked him to describe to me exactly what condition the body was in. After he told me that he was dead, I took down his address and ordered a few squad cars down there pronto. I also received information that the 4.5 inch steak knife was lodged in his rectum and I requested assistant detective Petra Ral to come with me as sex related crimes are her specialty." 

"I see. And when you got down there, did you notice anything that seemed off or out of place?"

"Oh, yes." He nods his head. "I was examining the crime scene and I noticed the back window was busted out and there was glass everywhere, almost like someone had deliberately broken the window to make it seem like a robbery had taken place. There was no robbery. I wrote this down for later but after collecting some data I requested that Armin come down to the police station for questioning. It wasn't until later that we finally caught Bertholdt Fubar and arrested him for the murder."  


Levi glares at Bert as he says this.

"Thank you, Detective Levi." I nod my head and give him a small smile, then turn towards Judge Pixis. "No more questions, your honor." I sit down. I fully expect a cross.

"Your honor, may I cross examine the witness?" -- Gunther stands up.

"You may." With a wave of his hand, Judge Pixis grants permission.

"Detective Levi, do you know your conviction rate in criminal trials?" After he says this, I stand up.

"Objection, your honor! Relevance to the case?" What does Levi's conviction rate have to do with anything?

"Your honor, it goes to the credibility of the witness." Gunhter side eyes me.

"Overruled," Pixis says and turns towards Levi. "Answer the question, Detective." 

Levi answers without hesitation. "My conviction rate stands at 100 percent." 

Gunther nods his head slight, "Very impressive. But is it possible that because you already brought my client to trial, you're only going through with this to save your conviction rate?" He's done it now

''Your honor, objection!" I interrupt again. This is ridiculous.

"Withdrawn.", Gunther says. He takes back what he said and moves on to the next question. "Detective Levi, is it true that you and Detective Ral first arrested Armin Arlert for Jean's muder?" His eyes seem to be starting straight into Levi's soul.

"Initially, yes, but he was quickly ruled out--" Gunther interrupts him.

"Quickly ruled out only after Mikasa Ackerman paid a visit to the precinct. Most curious. After you arrested Armin and let him go, isn't it also true that you nearly arrested Mikasa as well?''

Levi pauses a moment before answering."Well, she was never officially under arrest." This isn't looking good so far for Levi.

"She was never "officially" under arrest. However, if she didn't explain her diary, she would have been. Which reminds me, how did you get access to her diary?" Gunther keeps grilling Levi.

"Someone left it on our doorstep."

" 'Someone left it on our doorstep'. Mikasa Ackerman claimed that her diary was stolen from her home. So how can you use illegally seized evidence to support your case?" Gunther smiles.

"It wasn't illegally seized by us, so it was admissible. But as I said before, she wasn't under arrest."

"Lastly, you arrested a Mr. Marco Bott for the murder of Jean Kirstein but those charges where dismissed under a plea. Why was this?"

"Well, we found out he wasn't actually conspiring with the murderer, so the charges were dropped. Are we done now?" Levi's getting frustrated. Who can blame him?

"Interesting. Was this before or after you found surveillance footage of Marco Bott buying the exact supplies used in the the murder? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I would like to draw your attention to exhibit A in evidence?" -- Gunther points to the TV with a remote and presses play.

"As you can clearly see, there's Marco, and there he is buying a steak knife, rope, and a cleaning agent which can't be seen here but if I can pause this and show you exhibit B of the evidence, you can see on this receipt it shows that bleach was bought." Gunther shows the projection of the receipt with Marco's signature on it

"So tell me, was it before or after this?" He was pressing the matter.

"After, but I can--" Gunther cuts him off again.

"Thank you, no more questions your honor. You may return to your seat, Detective Levi." Levi looks infuriated. He was just manhandled by a sleazy lawyer. This was a huge blow to us, but we still have more witnesses. It's not over yet.

"Your honor, may I bring up my next witness?" The less time the jury has to digest that information, the better.

"You may." Pixis is curt, as usual.

"Thank you, I would like to call Medical Examiner Historia Lenz to the stand." Historia walks over to the witness stand and seats herself.

"Good morning, Historia. Just like we did a moment ago with Detective Levi, would you please explain your formal background to the court?"

She nods."Thank you and good morning. My name is Historia Lenz, I'm the medical examiner that works independently from the Military Police to help increase my office's reputation of being non-partisan. I am fairly new, as I've only worked for 2 years as a medical examiner. I graduated early from Rose University with 4.0 GPA and 4.0 science GPA. I received many awards and accolades on the quality of my office's work and how quickly and efficiently we got things done." Historia goes on for a few minutes like this.

"If I may your honor, I would like to swear this witness in as an expert witness. She has the credentials to fit the bill and her testimony is needed to prove our case." If I can get her as an expert, this case is in the bag.

"No objections, your honor." Surprisingly, Gunther doesn't even put up a fight. Good.

"Your motion is granted." -- one pound of the gavel does it.

"Thank you, your honor. Now onto the important matters. You discovered the body on December 7th, correct? Could you describe the condition it was in?"

"Sure. When I arrived at the scene, the first thing I noticed was the steak knife protruding from the rectum of the victim, later identified as Jean Kirstein. He had been raped with that knife. There was blood all in the house, on the ceiling, on the floor... it had to be at least 5 pints of blood. The average human body contains 8 pints of blood and after you lose between 30%-40%, your body goes into Hypovolemic shock, which means the heart can't pump blood through the body effectively. Jean lost 5 pints out of 8, over 60% of blood when we found him. He was dead on arrival." She broke down each and every medical term easily for anyone to decipher.

"I see, and can you describe to us what actually took place during the whole encounter?"

"What happened is that when Jean heard the doorbell ring, he opened the door and let the perp in. He was somehow incapacitated and subsequently tied up, as evident by the ligature marks on Jean's wrists. After being tied up, he was raped, and the rapist was most likely wearing a condom as there were no fluids left in his body. After that, he was viciously attacked and beaten to a pulp. His nose was broken, face red as a tomato. Finally, he had the steak knife jammed into his anus and it was consistently pushed in and out, severing many blood vessels and membranes. The blood splatter from the pulling out action actually landed on the ceiling. After a few more minutes of this, Jean was left to die, slowly bleeding from his anus until he lost about 3.5 pints of blood. At that point his body went into shock, but officially died from exsanguination." As Historia states all of this, the entire room falls silent in disgust.

I pause a moment before continuing. "...Thank you, Ms. Lenz. Nothing further, your honor." I tried not to let it show in front of Gunther and the rest of the courtroom, but I was very disturbed by the explicitness of the crime. I couldn't stand listening to this.

Gunther Schultz stands up and approaches the stand.

"Ms. Lenz, you said yourself that you're pretty new to this job. What happened to Jean Kirstein was a grave injustice and truly horrifying. However, in your expert opinion, who do you believe killed Jean Kirsten?" I arch my brow at his question. Why would he ask her this? He obviously has something up his sleeve.

Historia answers with no hesitation. "The man sitting right there. Bertholdt Fubar." She points to Bertholdt.

Gunther cocks his head slightly to the side. "Are you sure about that, Ms. Lenz? According to your own forensic findings, you have not found any DNA evidence on Jean from my client."

"Well, no, we haven't, however--" Gunther interrupts.

"In fact, not only have you not found any evidence from my client, but you found some from two other past suspects, correct?"

Historia doesn't immediately answer, looking uncertain as to how she should proceed.

"Please answer the question, Ms. Lenz."

After another moment's hesitation, she finally answers. "Yes, we found the DNA of Armin Arlert and Mikasa Ackerman on the victim." She says nothing more.

"And where did you find Armin's DNA?"

She lets out a soft sigh, almost inaudibly. "On the knife." My heart drops a little. The case is going south again.

Gunther smugly nods his head. "The same knife that killed Jean Kirstein. Now, how is it that Mr. Arlert's DNA was found on the murder weapon, yet he's not the one on trial today?"

"We ruled him out as a suspect when it was revealed that the DNA on the knife was put there artificially. Someone took Armin's DNA and transported it to the knife." A murmur arises from the members of the courtroom sitting behind me. Even though I know Historia is telling the truth, it sounds unbelievable even to my ears.

Gunther continues. "So you're saying that this person took someone else's DNA and somehow put it on the murder weapon just so that they could frame Mr. Arlert? How would one be able to do that without tainting the DNA?" I close my eyes and shake my head. Gunther has everyone eating out of the palm of his hand. Bertholdt is just sitting behind his desk, smirking.

"It's very much possible if you have the knowledge and means to do it."

"One more question, Ms. Lenz. In your expert opinion, isn't it possible that someone else, someone other than my client, is responsible for this murder given the facts presented here today?" That's why he didn't object to her being an expert witness. He's using her own power and authority against her.

She begins to stammer out an answer. "W-Well, we can't say for certain--"

Again, Gunther cuts her off.

"Yes or no, Ms. Lenz? Isn't it possible someone else other than my client killed Jean Kirstein, in your expert opinion?" The emphasis he put on the word "expert" almost made him sound sarcastic.

Historia's eye's drop to her lap. "...Yes." 

"Thank you, Ms. Lenz. You may now be seated. No more questions, your honor." And with that, Gunther spins on his heel and returns to his seat next to Jean, smiling to himself.

Judge Pixis begins to stand "I think we've seen enough for now. We'll convene for a short recess. Court is adjourned" -Judge Pixis slams the gavel and we are officially on recess. As I pack my things and stand to go to the bathroom, Mikasa meets me in the hallway..

"Annie, what the hell is going on? I thought you said Bertholdt would be put away today? All I'm seeing is his lawyer walking all over everyone!" She starts to cry.

"I'm doing everything in my power to win this case. Just please bear with me, Mikasa." I try to comfort her but as soon I finish talking, reporters rush in, trying to get more questions. Mikasa heads down the hallway and I go to the bathroom.

- **x** -

As I enter the courtroom, I glance at the clock and notice that we have a few more hours left. That's more than enough time to call up the last three witnesses.

"Your honor, if I may proceed I'd like to call my next witness, Mikasa Ackerman, to the stand." I signal to Mikasa to come up. She holds onto her belly and slowly makes her way to the stand.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Ackerman. Would you mind telling the court about your relationship with Jean Kirstein?"

"Yes, he was a good childhood friend of mine. He was also Armin's boyfriend and Armin is another great friend of mine." She seems happy and upbeat. I hope this lasts.

"Thank you. Now, your knowledge isn't going to be as extensive as the previous few but you still hold valuable information. The defense claimed that Armin could be a possible killer, but can you explain to the people gathered here to why that isn't the case."

"Certainly. Armin was actually with us for a long time, us being me and Eren." -- She stops for a bit after she says Eren's name. "...and because I told them about the break-ins at my house, when someone had stolen my diary, the detectives came to the conclusion that it was possible that Armin's house was robbed as well for his DNA. I also received text messages from a mysterious person--" but she couldn't finish her sentence.

" **Don't you say another word, Mikasa.** " -- It was Bertholdt and he was furious.

"Mr. Schultz, control your client or I will have him removed from my courtroom! Ms. Ackerman, you may continue." Dot Pixis was infuriated.

The court turns to the projection screen and it's a picture of Mikasa's cell phone with the messages on it.

" The message read _I know what you did recently and you won't get away with it. Believe me, you'll pay_. At first I paid it no mind to it, but after I realized my diary was stolen, I knew someone was after me." -- Mikasa turns her head and stares at Bertholdt who flips her off.

"Mikasa, the messages have been traced back to Bertholdt. Do you know why he would send these to you?"

"I have no idea why he would do this at all. All I know is that he killed Jean and killed my **Eren.** "

Gunther stands and shouts, "Objection, your honor!" Look's like he's finally starting to get a taste of his own medicine.

"Sustained. Ms. Ackerman, don't make accusations like that without proof. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please disregard that last sentence from the record book." Judge Pixis puts everything back to order. 

"Thank you, Mikasa. That will be all, your honor." I can't even sit all the way down before Gunther jumps up from his seat again.

"Mikasa, I'm sorry for both of your recent losses but we have a trial to continue here. I see that you're pregnant. Are you carrying Jean Kirstein's baby?"

"Objection, your honor. Relevance?" -What on earth is he doing?

"Your honor, I'm trying to establish a credibility factor and this will help." He turns his head my way to glare at me.

"You'd better be going somewhere with this, Mr. Schultz. I'll overrule for now."

And just like that, Gunther continues.

"No, this isn't Jean's baby. It's Eren's." As she says this, I look behind me at Armin. He's seated a few rows behind me and is looking anxious. If this trial goes the way I think it will, I don't know if he'll be able to handle it.

"So it's not Jean's baby. That's a relief. But what actually happened to his?" That's a low blow, even for you, Gunther.

Mikasa pauses a moment before answering. "I never carried any baby of his," she says sternly. Mikasa is starting to get frustrated.

"Oh really? Then let me pull out this chapter from your diary." Gunther grabs her diary from inside his suitcase and starts reading the ever so familiar lines: _I Knew I shouldn't have done it. I didn't want to, but he made me. He made me a killer, and I did as I was told_. These are your words. What do these mean? Is this a confession that you killed Jean? That we can close this case, arrest you and gone home?" Her faces turns bright red from embarrassment.

"No... that's not it. And you know it. I would never kill Jean."

Gunther continues his verbal assault on Mikasa. "Fine, if it's not about that then what is it? You would never kill Jean, because you loved him, right? But how much did you really love him?" I turn around and sneak a glance over to Armin again. He looks like he's about to throw up.

Mikasa just stares at Gunther for a few minutes, a silent fury on display within her eyes. "It's about my... about my..." She stops and looks over at Judge Pixis.

"Ms. Ackerman, let me remind you that you're under oath here. Tell the truth." Judge Pixis is firm.

She takes a deep breath and then finally says it: "I had an abortion." Tears begin to well up in her eyes.

"No, don't cry now. Why don't you tell us who the father was?" She looks up and over to Armin, who is staring at her with her with tears freely flowing from his eyes. He doesn't believe in anything unless it comes from her mouth.

"It was Jean's baby. However, I didn't want the abortion. I only got it because I didn't want to hurt Armin. And Jean told me to get rid of it. _It?_. He basically inferred it wasn't even worthy of being a human. I'm so sorry, Armin." But Armin just turns his head away and wipes his eyes.

Despite the tears Mikasa is now shedding, Gunther is still relentless. "It's a little late for apologies now, don't you think? You're a liar and a horrible friend if you're having sex with your friend's boyfriend. Tell me, how many times have you had sex with Jean?" He just won't let up.

She shakes her head in confusion. "I don't know, I don't remember."

"Well, then let me remind you. In your diary, you listed 12 times over a period of 2 years, the same time frame that Mr. Arlert and Jean dated." -- This is getting brutal. Armin is trying his hardest to hold back his shock.

"You stated earlier that you wanted the baby but Jean didn't. That sounds like a motive to kill for me. Killing Jean Kirstein, the only other person who knew about your affair."

" **I didn't kill Jean!** , I would never do something like that!"

Gunther chuckles. "Just like how you wouldn't have sex with your best friend's boyfriend, right? If we couldn't believe you about that, why should we believe you when you claim that you didn't kill Jean? Tell me, why was your DNA also found at the crime scene?"

Her voice cracks with each word. "I...I had my period on his bed once. I'm so sorry, Armin. You shouldn't have found out this way." But this is the last straw for Armin. He gets up and storms out of the courtroom.

Gunther seems satisfied with this outcome. "No more questions, your honor. And I think another short recess would be necessary, at least for Ms. Ackerman and her baby" Gunther returns to his seat.

Judge Pixis nods. "You're right. Let's have a small 5 minute break" At the sound of the gavel banging, I rush out of the courtroom to try and catch Armin.

I exit the courtroom, fearing I'm too late and that Armin already left but I see him sitting down, back against the wall in the hallway to my far left, with his head between his knees. I run up to him and crouch down to speak. "Armin, are you okay? I know all that was tough to hear, believe me, but Mikasa couldn't lie. She was under oath and had to tell the truth." I hug him hard.

He raises his head up, but otherwise doesn't react to my embrace. "Ever feel like your whole world just fell apart?" He just stares straight ahead, his gaze distant and unfocused. He doesn't even look at me.

"It must've been awful hearing those things." Armin just nods his head and stands up and begins to slowly walk down the hall. After debating with myself for a few moments, I decide not to chase after him. He needs this time alone.

I stand up and walk back to the courtroom, where the last two witnesses still need to be covered. It's time to have our star witnesses on the stand.

"Your honor, I would like to welcome Mr. Marco Bott to the stand." Marco is probably the most important trump card we have. If we can seal the deal here, then it's all but certain we can win this case, despite the setbacks we just suffered. Marco rises from his seat near the courtroom door and walks over to sit down on the stand.

"Mr. Bott, in the interest of saving time, we can skip the introductions and dive straight into the meat of this case. Now, in what ways were you connected with the November 30th murder of Jean Kirstein?" I really am interested in saving time and moving this case forward, but my decision not to have him introduce himself is also for another reason. The less they hear about Marco, the better.

"Well, I wasn't in any way directly involved with Jean's murder. The day I came back from my trip to Australia, I'm bombarded by all of this information coming from Bertholdt Fubar. He kept telling me that I lost my boyfriend to Armin and if I wanted him to pay that all I needed to do was get him a few things. So that's exactly what I did. I had no idea that anyone was gonna be killed, I didn't even know that Jean was the target. I was told that it was Armin." He comes off as cold and unapologetic and that definitely won't do him any favors with the jury.

"So because of this, you contend you had nothing to do with Jean's murder, correct? But one thing you won't find on a shopping list is DNA. You took a sample Armin Arlert's DNA. How'd you get it?" It's not the best way to show the court he has credibility, but it needs to be said.

"He had a lot of blood on his pillow, for some reason. Fresh blood. So I took some swabs and used that. Like I said, it was all for Bert." Marco glances at Bert and Bert laughs it off as if it's nothing.

I give Marco a nod, satisfied with his answer, and return to my seat. "Thank you, Mr. Bott. Nothing further, your honor."

And, like clockwork, Gunther stands up to begin his cross-examination of the witness. 

"You claim everything is Bertholdt's fault, yet did you not buy the knife, the rope, and the bleach used in Mr. Kirstein's murder?"

"I did, but at Fubar's request."

"And besides you saying so, you have no proof that my client solicited the items, correct?" Gunther keeps checking things off on a notepad as he speaks.

Marco stammers out his answer. "Well, Eren actually knows. I accidentally sent him a text that was meant for Bert." Wait a second. No one told me this. I didn't go over this with Marco. What the hell is going on?

Gunther nods his head mockingly. "I see, i see. Now tell me, where is Mr. Jaegar right now? Why isn't he here to tell us this himself?"

The whole room goes silent.

"Exactly. Moving on. So you buy the supplies, allegedly at the request of Mr. Fubar, but explain to me how you got a sample of Mr. Arlert's DNA again. You said you got it from his pillow, no? Now, unless Mr. Arlert invited you into his home, which I find highly unlikely considering the fact that he was seeing your boyfriend and all at the time, that would mean that you broke into his house, right?" I let out a small sigh to myself. Everything is going wrong today.

"I didn't have to "break in". His front door was already open." I lay my head down on the desk. My God, could you be any dumber, Marco?

Gunther just nodded, seemingly satisfied with Marco's answer."Assuming for the moment that you're telling the truth, that still doesn't make it alright for you to just waltz on into someone's private property. But I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, Mr. Bott. So far, what we've learned today is that you're deranged, follow bad advice, can't corroborate any of your stories because your "evidence" pieces are dead, and that you commit felonies because it's easy 'pickins. How can we believe anything you say?"

"Because you gotta! Otherwise Bertholdt walks free!" Fubar stares at Marco after he says these words.

Gunther just stares at Marco for a moment, then turns around and heads back to his seat."We're done here, your honor." Judge Pixis signals Marco to take his seat. "And your honor, my client will not be testifying today, so if the prosecution has any evidence they'd like to bring out, they can do it now."

I jump up after hearing Gunther's words."Your honor, why exactly can't Bertholdt testify? Does he have the flu or something?" I'm disgusted and visibly outraged. At least stand by your dirty deeds.

Gunther replies smoothly, "My client reserves the right to not go on trial, Ms. Leonhardt. Thank you very much for your concern." He adds a bit of sarcasm to to his voice for that last part. 

"He's right, counselor. If you have any new evidence to bring forward, now is the time."

"I do. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what I am about to play for you right now is an audio recording of what happened when we put Marco undercover to get Bertholdt to confess his heinous act." As I begin to play the audio, Armin walks in and is greeted by Mikasa at the entrance.

"Armin, I'm so sorry. Do you think you could you ever forgive me? I didn't mean for you to find out this way." Armin doesn't say a word but instead just hugs her for the whole duration of the audio. After he lets go, he replies with a nod of the head.

"Thank you, Armin. How about I take you to Maria's Diner today, after all this is over? I know it's your favorite restaurant." He smiles slightly and nods again. He seems happy.

"That sounds nice. You may want to change into something else, however. I'll give you good news on the verdict when I come to pick you up later today. Sound good?"

"Crystal." Mikasa leaves the courthouse and goes home.

Back with the rest of the room, the audio tape finishes and it's time to give closing arguments.

"Today, we were walked, step by step, through the rape and murder of Jean Kirstein and the attempted murder of Marco Bott. We discovered that not only was Bertholdt Fubar responsible for all three of these crimes, but he may get away with it unless you, the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, convict him. Do the right thing and not only convict him, but give him the death penalty. It's the only way to make sure he suffers for as long as he lives and pays for his crimes." I tried the hardest I could to sound convincing to the jury. It wasn't easy but it was effective. I sit down and Gunther goes up next.

"Now, that was a good speech, a very good speech. She's right about one thing, though. Someone does need to pay for Jean Kirstein's murder. However, it's not my client. As we saw here today, a variety of people could have murdered Mr. Kirstein, including Armin Arlert, the jealous Marco Bott, and even Mikasa Ackerman. The prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that my client committed these crimes. There were no witnesses who put him at the scene, no DNA evidence, only circumstantial evidence. Do the right thing and acquit Bertholdt Fubar of all charges. End this farce of a trial now." Gunther sits down.

"Well, jury, you are dismissed. We will come back when you have reached a decision. Court is adjourned." Judge Pixis bangs his gavel and stands up to leave.

I gather my things and walk over to Armin. I smile at him "Armin, how are you holding up? And where's Mikasa?"

"Oh, I'm good now. I can't stay mad at her forever. She's still my best friend and I like to give everyone a second chance. And she left a while ago. We're supposed to go to Maria's Diner later after the trial is over. She knows I love that place." It's great that they made up.

"Well, it's time to prepare for the verdict. The jury isn't back yet but rumor has it that they are quick, so let's not be late!"

- **x** -

It's only been a few hours and the jury comes back with their verdict.

Judge Pixis is seated again, waiting to hear the jury's decision. "Has the jury reached a verdict yet?" Every reporter in the room is zoomed in on the one female juror who is going to read the decision.

"We have, your honor. On the count of attempted murder in the first degree, we find the defendant, Bertholdt Fubar, **not guilty.** " I'm shocked by the ruling, but try my best not to let it show. I'm failing so far.

Judge Pixis nods. "I see, and on the count of rape?"

"On the count of rape in the first degree, we find the defendant, Bertholdt Fubar, **guilty.** "

I nearly jump out of my chair in excitement. We did it! One out of three ain't bad, but it's not over yet.

The juror continues. "Lastly, on the count of 1st degree murder."

"On the count of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant, Bertholdt Fubar, **guilty.** "

The whole courtroom cheers after the verdicts and Bertholdt breaks down. He leans his elbows on the desk and puts his head into his hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our verdict. After a character witness, I will hand down sentencing. Mr. Schultz, please bring up your character witness."

"Yes, your honor. Armin Arlert would like a few words to say on behalf of Mr. Fubar." My jaw drops. Armin, of all, people wants to speak up for him?

Armin walks up to the middle podium and starts to speak. "I just got through talking with Annie Leonhardt about giving people second chances. I believe everyone, every human being alive, deserves a second chance. Because of this, I don't think it's right to give Bert the death penalty. It's not right to take a life for a life, an eye for an eye. Jean wouldn't approve of it. While it hurts me that Jean is gone forever, and now Eren is too, that's the way life goes and I can't do anything about it now. I just want to take this opportunity to talk about my fallen ones too, Jean and Eren. I loved them both dearly. Heaven couldn't wait for you. Fly home. You both made me so strong and it breaks my heart to see you leave my life."

Detective Petra enters the courtroom.

"Finally, I just want to thank the detectives who brought this case and the person who did it to justice. You all showed strength and compassion and that's helped me get through the sleepless nights." Armin's speech brings tears to my eyes.

"Thank you, Mr. Arlert. You can step down now. Now, Mr. Fubar, because of how generous Armin wants to be your life will be spared today. Be grateful we still have merciful souls left on this earth. I hope someday you'll realize how lucky you are. I sentence you to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Court is adjourned." Juge Pixis slams his gavel one last time.

And just like that, Bertholdt is taken out of the courtroom. "You haven't seen the last of me," he shouts back at Armin and Judge Pixis. I still have an ace up my sleeve!" I just shake my head in disgust. He's one sad man. I walk up to Armin and pat him on the back for a job well done. He knocked it out of the park.

Detective Levi walks up to us, a big smile spread across his face.

"Great work, Annie. Always looking out for the small fish. Anyways, Petra says she went to Mikasa's house to check up on her, and she has a special surprise for Armin. I wonder what it is" Armin's face lights up with excitement.

"Can we call Petra now? I really want to know!" Armin begs Levi to so Levi takes out his phone and dials up Petra.

**Petra ANSWERS call**

Levi: Petra, where are you? Armin is getting tireless.

Petra: Levi, you aren't going to believe this...

Levi: What is it? Tell me.

Petra: ...Mikasa's dead. I found her under her kitchen table. There's blood everywhere. And it looks like her baby was cut out of her womb and thrown into the dishwasher. Luckily I came home in time to save the baby's life, but she's in critical condition. I called the ambulance to come right away.

Levi: ...

Petra: Levi, are you there? There's a letter left over by Mikasa. Do you want me to text you the note?

Levi: ...Yes, you do that. It's probably important.

**Levi ENDS call** 

**Message**

_This is for anyone who finds this. There's some man in my house, but I don't know who he is. I don't recognize his face. I'm scared for my life and for my baby's life. I probably won't make it out alive and I can't stay crouched here forever. The only way I'll have any chance of surviving is to fight back. Tell Armin I'm so sorry I couldn't be with him today, I let him down so many times but this is the last time I'll ever do it. If for some reason my baby lives, this note signifies that I give full rights to Armin. I know he'll be the best father anyone could ever ask for. It's time for me to go now. Take care, and please, if my baby lives take good care of him for me, Armin. I love you-- Mikasa._

"Levi, what's the surprise? I really wanna know!" --Armin leans over Levi's shoulder to peek. Levi doesn't look happy anymore. Did something happen?

"Change of plans, Armin. Looks like I'll be taking you to Maria's Diner. It's your favorite place to go, right? Come on, everything is on me." Levi looks like he's faking a smile as he escorts a jubilant Armin to his car...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I apologize for the LONG LONG wait but it's finally done. The story is technically complete.
> 
> However I was thinking of writing an epilogue to this story. Thoughts? If you want I could do it but if not then yeah I am officially done guys! Thank you for all of the lovely inbox messages, comments, and views I got. It was a blast to write. (Be on the lookout for some new fics by me in the Free! fandom)


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